New Genesis
by Didact Brainiac 99
Summary: After losing to Universe 7 in the Tournament of Power, Champa the Destroyer has received a chance for some payback from the Omni-Kings themselves, but they have changed in ways even a Destroyer could never foresee. Is this chance all it's cracked up to be, or is it something...else?
1. Announcements

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragon Ball Super and all associated characters (but that would be lovely!). Akira Toriyama is the genius creator and Toei Animation brought it to life. Domo Arigato!

Author's Notes: I was inspired by the Universal Survival arc of the anime and a couple of other things. See if you can spot the other influences. Now, onto "New Genesis"!

Champa, God of Destruction for Universe 6, was sitting on one of the enormous and luxurious coaches in the massive lounge of his palace. Normally, he would be yelling at his Angelic attendant Vados to get him something to eat, or to help him come up with some ideas for what to do.

Today was quite the exception, however.

It had been but a scant week since the Tournament of Power, and Champa was still reeling from the fact that his ass-hole brother had not only come out on top, but that one of his fighters had used his wish from the Super Dragon Balls to restore all the universes that the Omni-Kings had erased. The two-fold humiliation had been driving him crazy, but an unexpected visit had him a much better mood; Well, after he learned the _reason _for the visit, that is.

It had started two days after the tournament and Champa was going crazy, trying to come up with a crazy scheme or a nasty plan to try, yet again, to one up his skinny punk of a brother, Beerus. Vados had been calmly and serenely, as always, acting as a sounding board to the chubby God of Destruction, weighing the pros and cons of each scheme. From Champa's point of view, she was poking holes in everything and making him look like a moron, to which she always replied with a soft giggle and a comment about how often her Lord Champa lets stress get the better of him.

He was about to retort (along with dropping some very bad language aimed at Vados' pretty face) when a soft glowing orb appeared right in the middle of his living room. Vados and Champa both very surprised by this, but became quite startled when the Omni-Kings themselves, the Grand Zen-O's, appeared before them with their body guards flanking them, and the Grand Minister to the left of them. The Omni-Kings were smiling and laughing like little children at play, while the Grand Minister looked like he would rather stab himself in the eye with a white-hot knife than be here right now. What surprised Champa even more was that Fuwa, the Supreme Kai of Universe 6 was with them, a surprisingly joyful smile threatening to split his chubby face.

"Glorious sires! How gracious of you to visit my humble abode! How can I serve you today?!" Champa blurted out almost as fast as he bowed to the rulers of the Multiverse. He was scared to death because usually if the Omni-Kings needed to see anyone about anything, they called you to come to them; Not the other way around, most certainly!

"Hi Mr. Champa! We just had a really fun idea! A really really fun idea!" Both the child-like deities exclaimed with almost palpable glee. Champa hadn't a single clue as to what the Omni-Kings "really really fun idea" was, but since the last one was a martial arts tournament that saw the losing teams and their home universes erased from existence, he was loathe to even hazard a guess. Since not answering the Omni-Kings would be blatantly disrespectful, he simply asked, "And what would that be, Sires?"

"Another Tournament of Power!"

Champa and Vados both looked surprised, but where Vados looked contemplative, Champa despaired, thinking he was possibly going to be erased again. His fears were unfounded as the Grand Minister spoke up for the first time.

"No need to worry, Lord Champa, the Omni-Kings won't be erasing any universes this time around. Their Majesties have decreed that the Tournament of Power would become an annual event. Since the idea for the tournament was first proposed by someone from Earth, than Earth-time will be used to determine when the Tournament shall be held. It will be held every three Earth years, as was the World Martial Arts Tournament that was held on Earth. There have also been some changes to the rules, nothing really demanding of attention but nonetheless, still important. Would you like me to go over the new rules, Lord Champa?"

Champa really had no idea how to respond so he simply nodded and waited for the Grand Ministers response .

"Excellent! Before we get into the rules though, well...", here the Grand minister seemed particularly reluctant to continue, but as Grand Minister, he had a duty to perform, no matter how much it despaired him. Champa was perplexed as he had never seen the Grand Minister so reluctant to speak his piece before. And soon realized why as the Grand Minister soon explained.

"Before we get into the rules, we need to discuss the grand prize for winning the tournament", the Grand Minister proclaimed after taking what looked like a steadying breath. He continued, "For the winning universe, the Supreme Kai and his Destroyer counterpart will be...be named...named...".

"Yes?", a curious Champa asked, despite it being considered rude to pry when the Grand Minster was speaking.

The Grand Minister was about to finish when both the Grand Zen-O's jumped and happily squealed at the top of their tiny lungs, "The winning universes Supreme Kai and God of Destruction get to become the _new _Omni-Kings!"

Both Grand Zen-O's had in fact squealed so loud, the Grand Minister hit the roof (quite literally!) , Champa had straightened up so fast, his spine popped like a series of gunshots going off in rapid-fire, and poor Vados had been so startled, she had actually fallen over a sofa, flailing her arms trying to catch herself, over-turning the sofa and falling over it herself. She landed flat on her back, knocking herself loopy with her feet twitching now and again.

As Champa tried to push a couple of vertebrae back into place, his Supreme Kai counterpart Fuwa spoke up. "It's true, Lord Champa! The winning universe of this next tournament will have their respective Supreme Kai and God of Destruction promoted to Omni-Kings! Isn't it wonderful?! Also, all of the fighters get a ridiculously massive amount of local currency to play with! A wish from the Super Dragon Balls! And a whole bunch of other stuff! I just can't believe it myself! Money and wishes and crowns, oh my!"

As Champa began to snap out of his pain-induced stupor and registered what was said, the Grand Minister gave Fuwa a pointedly dirty look for stealing his thunder, so to speak. He noticed both Grand Zen-O's giving the Grand Minister their own dirty looks too, so he decided to leave Fuwa alone. He'd speak to the rotund Supreme Kai later in private.

"Ahem!" The Grand Minister cleared his throat as loudly as he could while trying to maintain an air of decorum. "Now, if everyone has been briefed on the 'prize' for the next tournament", he grumbled. His tone showed he had no love for the so-called "Grand Prize" and was loathe to talk about it further. The Grand Minster decided to focus on the actual rule changes so to get the awful taste out of his mouth. A large yellow covered book materialized out of thin air right in front of him and opened of its own accord to approximately the middle. The Grand Minister cleared his throat again and even put on reading glasses. If for effect if nothing else.

"Aha! Here we go! Revised Tournament of Power rules, first edition. Revised rules, in addition to new rules are as follows: As with the original format of the rules, any contestant knocked from fighting stage shall be declared defeated by ring-out. In addition to ring-outs, contestants are now allowed to render their opponents unconscious, using any and all force they may deem necessary. Also...", it was here the Grand Minister stopped, and seemed to heave a heavy sigh, as though something troubled him. He looked about ready to continue when the Omni-Kings interrupted him themselves.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! Get to the good part!" Said the Original Omni-King. The Future Omni-King chimed in, "Yes! Get to the good part! The Good part!" Everyone turned to the Omni-Kings. Vados had pulled herself and was massaging her head when she glanced over at the Omni-Kings and gasped. Champa finally realized that something was off with them. Both Grand Zen-O's were wearing what appeared to be armoured battle gear instead of their usual robes.

Both wore shiny black metal boots with wrap-around grieves the colour of an evening sky, trimmed in polished gold. They also wore metal body armour of the same colour, also trimmed in gold, matching skirts of armour over black leggings and golden belts with the Omega symbol serving as the buckle. Their shoulders had matching spaulders with matching gauntlets. Their new look was completed by open faced helmets that covered the entire backs of their heads and were held in place by golden metal chin straps.

While the new outfits were strange, what made Vados gasp and Champa swallow hard was the icy cold of their eyes which had somehow turned bloody red, glowing with an eerie, fiery light. When they spoke again, it was like something cold and malevolent was speaking through them like they were puppets. Champa was too scared to open his mouth so he let the changed Omni-Kings have they say.

"The best part, is that now everybody is allowed to kill! Murder, mutilate, massacre! Our three favourite new words! Everybody gets to have some _real _fun! Oh, we almost forgot! The other new rule, if stupid Grand Minister had mentioned it earlier", and they glared hatefully at the short angel, "was that each team is to use at least one dead warrior. We want 'um mean, nasty, and perfectly happy to rip off some heads! Bring 'um back to life first, or as a reward for after, that's up to you. _We_ think you should bring 'um back to life right away, though. Your only allowed to use guys from Hell, though. Wishy-washy guys from Heaven are crap anyway!"

Champa listened intently, and had to admit, it was a great idea! Who cares if the fighters are allowed to kill each other? Not him! If you get killed at this new Tournament of Power, then you didn't deserve to be there in the first place! He saw the Omni-Kings turn to him and thought he had done something to earn their combined ire, but they smiled at him and nodded, as though they agreed with his train of thought.

Champa had just received massive inspiration from the Omni-Kings and he was going to run with it! He had heard along the cosmic grape vine that the Hell of Universe 7's Earth was full of nasty dudes he could recruit, and he knew for a fact that signing up somebody from another universe was actually allowed by the original rules, and if the Grand Zen-O's transformation was any indication, it would probably be encouraged in the revised rules! He and Vados had work to do, and he just couldn't wait to see the look of defeat on his idiot brothers face when a warrior from his own universe would be used to best him and his fighters. He knew he'd have to pay a discreet visit to Universe 7's after life to do some checking, but he knew he'd find someone to fill the "Dead Warrior" role.

He also began to wonder about the dramatic change that had overtaken the usually sweet and friendly Grand Zen-O's, but decided to worry about that later. Before he could begin to plan out his next moves, the Grand Zen-O's made one last pronouncement. "Okay guys! Listen up! Each universe has been given a special laboratory to equip and upgrade the warriors you pick, even the dead guys you decide to bring back. These labs were provided by a very awesome fella we met recently, another God in fact, and he comes from a completely different _multiverse_! These new labs are massive, and look really expensive, so you break it, you bought it! This new guy had to get another God that _he _met to transport these labs to everybody's universes, so make the most of them. They might decide to take them back or blow them sky-high if you screw up, so don't screw up!...or else! Okay?"

They both leaned forward, giving everybody the stink eye, as though daring somebody to talk back or contradict them. When no one did, they waved good-bye and singsonged, " _see ya later!" _and vanished along with their body guards and the beside-himself Grand Minister.

Vados looked to Champa and saw the gears turning in his cat-like head, hoping against hope that he would just forget about this new tournament and recruiting a new team, especially if it meant using a lab provided by a Deity that no one had met before but had obviously corrupted both of the Omni-Kings! She knew that if Champa went for it, she would at least try to convince the God of Destruction that restraint would be the better choice and to refrain from going for the throat, as the saying went.

Even Vados, with her divinely attuned senses never realized they were all being watched. Six blood red eyes stared out from a mirror in the room, a mirror which surface was clouded by swirling, undulating obsidian smoke. Even as Vados and Champa began to talk about what just happened, a mouth full of long, razor sharp teeth opened in the swirling mists of the mirror and pulled back into a demonic grin!

**Author's Notes:**** Well, it's been a long time since I made a multi-chapter story, but I'm glad I've started again! I hope everybody enjoyed this first chapter as I have enjoyed writing it for you! TTYL!**


	2. A Business Proposal

**Disclaimer:**** Akira Toriyama and Toei are the rightful creators and distributors of these characters. I am not. I make no financial gain from this work, I just do it for fun. All DC characters, elements and settings mentioned or present are the property of their respective creators and DC Entertainment. Now that that is out of the way, let's get a move on! **

**Author's Note: ****This chapter takes place approximately one month after Champa's bizarre visit from the Omni – Kings. It also takes place several days after Goku and Vegeta had their spectacular fight with Broly, Legendary Super Saiyan extraordinaire. By the way, while there will some crossover elements, its not a full crossover; at least, not yet.**

Champa and Vados had arrived on the world where the laboratory the Omni-Kings had given them was located. It was a volcanic world that looked like a flaming nightmare from orbit, and it kind of gave Champa the creeps. Instead of oceans of water, oceans of liquid fire boiled and churned, driven by Tectonic storms and highly charged, ionized plasma that struck the ground in a vicious and undulating onslaught that seemed to go on forever without stopping, storms of the same burning, blistering energy exploding into fury out of nowhere, leaving only scorched earth in their wakes.

The world was officially designated Beta-Sigma 912.

It was nicknamed "Hell Storm".

Vados had a forlorn look on her usually lovely face, but Champa had a wicked grin splitting his face almost in two. This was a perfect place to put a secret lab. Really, though; would anyone want to come to a burnt-out shit hole like this if they absolutely didn't have too?

"Oh my! Oh my! What an awful place!" Champa sneered in anger at his Supreme Kai counterpart who decided to follow the two and see things for himself. _'Why couldn't the fat lump just stay home and wait for us to report back?'_ As Champa mentally grumbled to himself, he decided that it was long past time to inspect the new facilities that the Grand Zen-O's had bequeathed him and gestured for his companions to follow. Each surrounded themselves in protective barriers and slowly floated downward toward the fiery world below,

As the plasma storms and searing winds began to whip the group around with a surprising strength, each nodded to the other and took off like cannon shots. They had spied the lab from above, a metallic black cancerous looking thing against the fiery molten red of the surface. Even from orbit it looked huge. Champa had been expecting something subtle, or even underground, but as they came closer and closer, the Destroyer of Universe 6 had been grossly in error; the place was beyond massive! If Champa had to guess, the "lab" was more along the lines of a city-sized complex! He simply couldn't believe the size of it! It was perfectly centred on the planets largest continent, but from the size of the place, Champa guessed it covered almost two-thirds of the continent! He had seen some impressive structures in his time, but this one was quite the doozy!

The closer they came to the facility, the more detail they could make out. They saw huge black conduits and piping everywhere like huge metal veins, gigantic turbines roaring with scalding-hot tornado winds blowing out and what looked like enormous power plants with huge sections of their exterior removed, the visibly exposed machinery chugging and pumping away with mammoth tubes snaking here and there, transparent panels along the lengths of them showing fiery hot magma and possibly other materials being pumped in and out.

There were also huge pits that had huge tubes leading in and out of them as well, hellish columns of fire exploding into the searing air, scorching an even deeper stench of ash and sulphur into the atmosphere. The pits were like very low, but incredibly wide volcano caldera that had been covered in machinery. Gigantic illuminated walkways were raised high above the industrial structures, as though those that commanded the place were above the toil and grime.

The entire place was like an equal blend of industrial complex, high-tech city and upon closer examination of the few decorative structures that could be seen, ghoulish palace if the statues of terrifying monsters - or the reliefs and fresco's on the walls depicting nightmarish and horrifying scenes - were any indication.

There were gigantic black towers scattered all over the place. They rose from haphazard openings in huge domes the colour of dried blood, eerie lurid red light shining from within. Blood-red glass decorated (if you could describe it like that) the front of the angular towers from almost near the top to deep within the domed bases. Long metal antennas extended from the tops. The small group had wondered aloud what they were for, but Champa had had enough site-seeing. He spun around and addressed Vados and Fuwa.

"Will you two just move it already?! I want to get to work and see what this weird joint can offer up!" He spun back around in a huff and shot off like a rocket, anxious to get started on whatever scheme he was going to throw together in the hopes of making his skinny ass brother look like the chump he really was. Vados shook her head in exasperation as she too flew faster to catch up to her Destroyer God charge and master, while Fuwa wiped some perspiration from his light green brow.

"Oh My, Oh My! What have I gotten myself into?!" He had stopped mid-air to catch his breath so to speak, but a shout from Champa startled him. "Will you COME ON! Fuwa, you chubby dope, we're waiting on YOU!" Fuwa had the right mind to tell where his Destroyer counterpart could shove it, but he was too exasperated with the whole thing and simply too hot and dried out to bother yelling a retort so he too sped up after the others.

They spotted what looked like the central building for the facility and it gave them the creeps. It was a massive, angular tower the seemed to pierce the angry, roiling clouds of Hell-Storm's sky. From the base of the tower - situated atop a massive dome like the other smaller towers - almost to the very top, huge angular windows decorated the sides, like the giant translucent plating of some massive insect or reptile. The top of the tower split into two angular horns, add to the already unnerving chill of the place.

Vados spotted a huge ornate staircase recessed into the dome section. It led up to a massive double-door that was equally ornate. The group landed at the base of the stairs, marvelling at the huge structure. The central tower had the same industrial complex/high-tech castle mix style that everything else had. It gave everyone the creeps.

Despite the air being hot enough to burn ordinary people alive, there was a bizarre chill in the air, not so much a physical cold, but a chilling sense of threat and foreboding. The three each gulped as they felt a menacing chill slither up their spines. They knew they had to inspect the facility to see what it could contribute to winning the next Tournament of Power that would be happening in less than three years; lots of time for prep work, but why leave anything to chance?

They began walking up the enormous staircase toward the central spire's huge front door, hideous metal gargoyles lining each side, the frozen snarls on their cold metal faces giving the three varying degrees of wary. It took about ten minutes to completely walk the huge staircase, and while the chubby God of Destruction and his even chubbier Supreme Kai counterpart was bent over and gasping for air, Vados was as serene and composed as ever. She didn't want to show Champa any hint of misgiving; at least until they knew more about the facility.

As they began walking toward the huge double doors. The doors began to slide apart, like a giant-sized version of automatic doors you might find at a shopping mall. Everybody arched a brow at this, but if that didn't put them on the defensive, then the giant wearing coal black armour with blood red skirt and cloak, carrying a massive double bladed war axe certainly did. The giant smiled at them from under his massive horned helm, blood red eyes almost glowing in the low light of the place. He was leaning against the axe as it was resting on the floor, but from the sheer size of him, it wasn't because her was infirm. He looked like he could rip the entire place out of the ground and walk off with it!

"A very good morning to one and all!" He bellowed in a deep, gravel voice as he bowed deeply, his twin-braided beard almost touching the floor. Champa didn't know what to make of the giant but he would at least be polite; well, until he found out more about this place. He and the others bowed as well.

As they bent back up, the giant had walked forward with fluid grace for one so large, gracefully lowered to one knee and had taken Vados' hand and brought it to his lips and lightly kissed it.

Vados almost swooned, she was so charmed, especially when the giant said, "Had I known that this universe' 'God of Destruction' was such a lovely maiden, I would have brought thee an offering of jewels fit for such a Goddess".

"Ahem! _Excuse _me?! Whose the God of Destruction?!" Champa had been so offended that the giant idiot had thought that Vados was the God of Destruction that he almost choked. The giant tilted his head to the left to more closely examine the snarling purple cat man and snorted in amusement. "I am mistaken it seems. Pity."

He gave Vados a saucy wink and the giant stood to his feet swiftly and spread his arms wide, and spoke again, "Apologies for the mistaken identity, _My Lord_", the sarcasm dripping from the title, "But your lady attendant so charmed me, I was hasty in my pronouncements. I greet thee all again. My name, good Destroyer, is Steppenwolf" and so he bowed again.

"Steppenwolf? What the hell kind of name is that?!" Champa was still somewhat miffed for the error of not being recognized as this Universe' Destroyer so what little filter was on his mouth normally was apparently no longer working. The aforementioned Steppenwolf smiled at Champa as he said, "It is the name I have worn proudly as I have served _my _God and king for long millennia past recounting. It is one of many names that his enemies have come to dread; Well, the rare few who he has permitted to live, of course" and at this he chuckled darkly, like he had just told some bizarre inside joke that only he understood.

"Okay, we get it, your big shit back home. Can we please get on to why we're here, maybe sometime _this _millennia?" Champa grumbled. Steppenwolf was actually amused by the fat talking cats prattle, and he gestured down the cathedral-like corridor with his huge axe. Vados led the way, with Champa and Fuwa playing catch-up. They were now standing next to the impertinent giant who called himself Steppenwolf and were now constantly looking around, noticing the numerous columns that reached from floor to ceiling, covered in unnervingly what looked huge hexagonal coffins.

They never noticed Steppenwolf press some buttons on a small electronic panel on the underside of his left gauntlet. A loud noise like a jet engine starting up made them all but him jump in alarm. A large circular machine swiftly alighted in front of them, suspended above the ground by five round engines along its circumference. Upon closer examination, it was revealed to be some kind of automated transport. A folding ramp lowered in back and Steppenwolf gestured for everyone to get aboard.

Even when the huge Stepenwolf boarded, the jet-car didn't even dip. When all were seated, the car quickly accelerated back down the expansive main hall, with Steppenwolf beginning to describe the purpose of the place.

"This enormous facility, My Lords and Lady, is but a minor replication of my home world of Apokolips. The facility, for the most part, is a research and development centre for new technologies, specifically military technologies. In addition to that function it also acts as breeding centre for advanced cybernetic enhanced foot soldiers we call 'para-demons'".

"_Para-Demons_?! HAHAHA! What _moron_ came up with that ridiculous name?" Champa couldn't help but laugh aloud at Steppenwolf's silly description, as slightly interesting though it was. Steppenwolf glared at the haughty cat deity for mocking his masters creations, but yet kept silent. He would simply have to be patient. The cat would get his soon enough.

"You've noticed those compartments on the columns, yes?" he continued, "Those are what we use to create our soldiers. When My Master's forces invade a new world, we transport those huge black towers you saw outside to the target world. When they arrive, they deploy finished Para-demon's to, ahem, 'collect' biological materials to be, how does one say? Ah, yes, to be 'repurposed'. That's it!" He chuckled loudly at his own description.

Vados may have charmed by Steppenwolf, but the comments about invading other worlds and "re-purposing biological materials" made her stomach sour. As she and her travelling companions rode along, she kept glancing at the chambers that dotted each of the many columns spaced along the seemingly endless hallway. She had a bad feeling about them, and was really hoping against hope that she was going to be wrong.

She tuned back in to Steppenwolf's description of the facilities as he mentioned something else that gave her goose bumps.

"Each facility is connected to each other by a quantum sub-space communication network. Not only can they instantly transmit massive data-packets to each other, they can even transmit biological samples and other physical materials from other facilities for analysis and re-purposing" He became almost gleeful when describing what the facility offered, smiling with an almost manic joy. "Imagine it! Genetic samples from the most powerful warriors from the other universes! All that essence of strength!"

He calmed down rather quickly and went back to a calm business-like demeanour. "When the samples are taken, they are halved; one half of the sample is kept in cold-storage for later study and possibly usage in new Para-Demon designs. The other half is transferred to the 'Master' facility, the one we are currently passing through".

"If I may ask a question?" Fuwa suddenly spoke up. Steppenwolf was surprised by how clearly the rotund fellow had spoken. He seemed to have found some small flicker of inner flame. Instead of being constantly nervous and unsure, now he seemed focused and steadfast. Steppenwolf smiled at the change and responded in all seriousness, "Ask away, My Lord".

"Why was Universe 6 granted this 'Master Facility'? Wasn't the point of these places to help _all_ the universes teams become more powerful? Why were we given such consideration?"

"I must agree with Lord Fuwa, Mr. Steppenwolf", Vados added softly, "Why was Universe 6 chosen to take possession of such a facility, one that holds sway over the others? Surely, this place can control the other installation as well? A single Universe could shut down the other labs, can they not?"

Steppenwolf's response was to explode with laughter. He held his stomach as he fought to regain control of himself. He smiled widely as he responded, "You have seen through to the truth! Well done, Milady and M'lord! Yes, it is true, You can shut down the other labs, but why do something so simple when you could have some fun with your competitors?"

"What are you talking about?" This question came from Champa, who was actually getting interested in the conversation. He had a mischievous smirk on his face that Steppenwolf mirrored. He could have given them a straight-forward explaination but he instead said, "To properly answer your question, Lord Champa, I must finish my explanation of the _options _this facility offers you. If I remember correctly, I was describing what happens with all of the biological samples collected by all of the facilities. Now where was I? Oh yes. The biological samples are placed in storage until they are required, and _when _the are needed, the automated equipment in the bio-labs study the new material, decoding genetic sequences for usable abilities and traits".

"A single scientist is capable of running the entire facility, where they can utilize ready-made Para-demons as labourers, lab assistants, experimental test subjects should they need something 'sturdier' for the tests they wish to perform, whether it be testing new weapon systems and other equipment built in the factories and foundries, or of course, creating and altering new Para-demons from 'collected stock'. My master would have loaned you several of his best, but sadly, they were all already tasked with various work my master has put to them".

"Yeah, thanks for nothing, you putz!" Champa snarled at Steppenwolf who was trying to imagine what it would be like if he just ripped the fat fools feline face off. He quickly remembered his Masters' warnings about these so-called "Gods of Destruction", but simply couldn't bring himself to seriously accept it. The only reason he put up with this fools brainless chatter was his Masters' warning that if this plan were jeopardized in even the most minuscule way then Steppenwolf would face 'judgment'. The warrior from Apokolips knew what that entailed so he simply shrugged at Champa's barb, uncaring what the idiot thought of him, but decided to 'throw him a bone' as it were.

"There was a scientist of some talent who resided on the Earth of Universe 7, If I recall the stories my master told me. What a delicious tactic would it make if you used _him_. He was the one who created those android brats that fought on the team commanded by Universe 7's Destroyer; so who better to inform you of their weakness' ...or even to produce a superior product, perhaps?" Steppenwolf's smirk was genuine as he saw the gears begin to creak along in the fat head of the most ridiculous deity he had ever met. Well, the most ridiculous alongside the green-skinned ball of lard that had accompanied him and the lovely woman who stood with him.

"What a great idea! I'm glad I thought of it!" crowed Champa as Fuwa looked completely lost at sea. He had done some research himself and really didn't want to mention the part that this Steppenwolf had obviously neglected to mention, but he felt he should say his piece, if only to bring some common sense to this horrid discussion.

"Lord Champa, if i may?" Champa looked at the Supreme Kai of Universe 6 and answered in a bored tone of voice, "Yes Fuwa? What is it now?" The Kai audibly gulped as he noticed Steppenwolf giving him an odd and rather disconcerting look. "Well, Lord Champa, the scientist that Mr. Steppenwolf mentioned was the founder and head scientist of a global terrorist organization called the Red Ribbon army..."

"Yeah, and? Spit it out already! We don't have all frigging day!"

Fuwa hated when Champa got pushy like that, but if he wasn't completely honest about who they were potentially going to pick to operate this house of horrors, then Champa would just pick the cretin anyway, or perhaps even find somebody worse!

"The scientist that Mr. Steppenwolf described is named Dr. Gero and he was a villain if ever there was one! He used his powerful inventions and genius mind to terrorize people all across the planet Earth! He experimented on and mutilated people in his sick experiments! Those two 'android' kids? They were regular humans once! They were born to human parents whom were murdered by Dr. Gero's thugs! He transformed them into super-powerful cyborgs. He dubbed them 'androids' because, in his sick mind, they had been changed so very much, they were no longer human, but his 'creations'!

"He did, in fact, create true synthetic androids but they were more robotic monsters than what you would classically call androids. Never mind that awful Cell creature he cooked up! Those two poor kids he mutilated? They killed him for it, thank goodness! His monstrous pet Cell got taken out too, and a very good riddance!"

The rotund Supreme Kai was huffing and puffing, he had made himself so upset after recounting Dr. Gero's behaviour to those assembled. He was flushed a colour that looked completely unhealthy and appeared like he was going to pass out. Champa looked at him, smiled and said, "My, oh My, Fuwa! I've never heard you speak so passionately before! Okay, you sold me!"

Steppenwolf looked worried for a moment as he quirked a brow, but Fuwa looked relieved as he let out a gusty sigh. Well, until Champa said, "We hire this Gero guy, bring him back to life so can run this place for us, and then we bring this Cell back to life and use him on our team for the next Tournament of Power! The thrones of the Omni-Kings will be ours for the taking, my tubby friend! Now, what next Steppenwolf, ol' buddy?"

_'How about I rip off your stupid head and beat your lumpy friend with it?!' _

What Steppenwolf actually said was, "A most wise decision, My Lords! I assume you have a method for restoring the individual you require?"

Champa smile looked almost sinister as he slowly nodded to the warrior from Apokolips. Steppenwolf noticed how upset the other fat fool and the woman were, so he thought he might demonstrate the facilities capabilities. He pressed several controls on his remote and a large door opened ahead of them as the hover-car began to slow down . He smiled in an eerie sort of way, and made another grand gesture with the wicked looking axe of his.

"We have arrived", he said simply as they all began to disembark the hover car.

Beyond the doors was a surprisingly brightly lit room compared the the dark and gloomy hallway they had been travelling down, forcing the visitors to squint against the shock of bright light. The huge and circular room could have fit a large house easily. In fact it it could have fit a medium sized warehouse, if you really tried. There were numerous computer station recessed into the wall equally spaced from each other, numbers, graphics, and a wide assortment of data flickering across the screens. What drew the attention of those gathered was the massive hexagonal operating table that had been tilted downward and what was clamp down on it, or rather _who_.

A small child wearing dirty rags had been restrained in the centre of the table, tears streaming down his gaunt face. He looked no older than five or six, and he looked scared to death. Steppenwolf paid the boy no heed, but the others were a different matter: Vados gasped in shock, Fuwa swore like a sailor at Steppenwolf, demanding the boy be released while Champa quirked an eyebrow.

"Okay, what's with the brat, Steppy?" Champa asked as he gestured to the boy.

Steppenwolf's eyes almost exploded out of his head when he heard Champa's 'nickname' for him. He ground his teeth but quickly regained his composure, lest he let slip his temper and jeopardize his masters machinations by gutting the fat bastard. That, though, could wait. He had an entertaining idea come to mind. He pressed a control on his gauntlet computer and a hidden panel in the floor slid open. An elaborate computer terminal rose up from the hidden compartment and unfolded like a metal blossom blooming. He inserted his axe into a holder that had extended out from the console and begun rapidly typing away the moment the terminal had booted up.

As he did so, Vados walked up to the terrified child and gently put her hand against his face, a sad smile gracing her face. She whispered softly, "I am so sorry" before long metal tendrils emerged from holes in the surface of the operating table and began digging into the boys flesh.

His agonized scream reverberated off the walls, making it seem louder than it actually was. Champa tried to clamp his hands over his large ears but it was no use; he couldn't block out the sound. Fuwa tried to actually pull the tendrils out of the boy, and when that didn't work he even tried smashing the operating table even as it tilted backward so it faced straight up; he was swatted aside by an angry Champa.

A huge mechanical apparatus with at least a dozen robotic arms lowered from the ceiling, each arm whirring to life and extending downward toward the tortured boy. A strange fluorescent aqua-marine coloured slime began oozing out of port along the edge of the table and flowed toward the screaming child like it was alive. It began to cover the boy even as heavy mechanical pieces began rising out of the table and connecting to each other like some sort of mechanical jigsaw puzzle. The robotic arms began injecting strange coloured liquids into the now completed metal coffin, some actually welding points of contact of adding more components.

They could no longer hear the child screaming anymore.

Suddenly, the metal coffin began to implode, like it was collapsing from the inside out. The horrible truth was quickly made known as a section of the material around where the boys head might have been – had he been nine feet tall – seemed to thin and split apart, almost like a mouth. That's exactly what it was.

The boy was now a monstrous entity, his body being constantly reshaped, altered, and transformed by the equipment. The physical material he had been encased in was actually changing colour, from a dull dark grey to a polished bronze. The material moved and flowed like thick molasses, but yet it was still solid. There were stylized glowing red lights recessed all over the armour of the still-forming monster.

Soon, actual arms and legs had formed. The new limbs were heavy with much new muscle and cybernetic armour. The torso looked like it belonged to a giant body builder who had overdosed on performance enhancers. The head was the worst; the metal had reshaped the boys skull into a vaguely saurian nightmare, no nose to speak of, permanently parted lips that seemed pulled into a hideous mockery of a smile, revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Fiery coals now burned within the eye sockets, which had been covered over with a stylized visor of blood red colour integrated into a demonic looking helmet. The mechanically augmented jaw snapped and bit as the restraints that held him began to give way, the massive bulging neck whipping the head from side to side.

A Para-Demon had been born.

Champa began to laugh like a crazy person as the newly minted Para-Demon slid off the table as it tilted forward, practically dumping the monster at Champa's feet. He slowly walked up to it and cupped its chin rather harshly, the creature freezing still. He slowly turned its head from side to side, examining his new soldier. He crossed his arms and hummed, as though thinking over the 'product demonstration' he had just witnessed. As he did, the angry Fuwa grabbed him by the arm, spun him around and screamed in his face, "What have you done?! Are you that desperate to humiliate your brother that your willing to transform our best fighters into th-these things?! Are you going to snatch more poor souls off the street to build an army of tin-can monsters?!"

"What I'm willing to do, you frumpy moron, is use whatever tools are at my disposal to prove to the entire cosmos the Universe 6 is the best! Okay, so these Para-Demon things could use some work, that's what all that DNA is going to be used for! Saiyans, Namekians, whatever we can get our grubby little fists on!" Champa roared right back.

He never noticed Steppenwolf smiling like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. He had learned about the various races that populated this tiny little multiverse and was remarkably surprised at how many gifted races there actually were. He had also watched almost a dozen recordings of the various fights that had occurred during the so-called Tournament of Power. Many of the fighters would have made passable Para-Demons, but those 'Saiyans' he had witnessed were truly magnificent. What he wouldn't give to have a couple of soldiers like those!

The facility could create living clones of whatever life forms had been harvested for Para-Demon conversion, it was that that particular feature was not utilized very often, only on very rare occasions. Steppenwolf now realized that was quite possibly going to change. The many Para-Demon hives could be reprogrammed to create not only pure clones, but hybrids of the various life forms whose DNA was sampled. He wondered just what this Dr. Gero was going to bring to the table, but from what he had learned, both from what his Master had told him, and from what he learned from his guests, the results would be entertaining at the very least!

As he let two of guests argue, he noticed the woman kneel down in front of the kneeling Para-Demon he had made. She gently put her hands against its ugly face and lean forward until her forehead was touching its. She was weeping quietly, repeating over and over, "I'm sorry".

Steppenwolf snorted at the display and decided he'd let his master know the good news. He smiled as he envisioned his Masters reaction; Darkseid would be pleased!

**Author's End Notes:** Hi everybody! I just wanted to let you know that this story will be part of a crossover, but not just yet! I hope everybody had good time reading this chapter as i have had writing it for you! Please read and review! Ideas for changes, for what comes next, for the simply sake of saying your piece! Let me know! TTYL!


	3. Retrieval

**Disclaimer:** All characters within are the property of Akira Toriyama, DC Entertainment, Toei Animation, and all other writers, artists and respective creators. I own nothing so please don't try to sue me, you'd be wasting your time.

**Author's Notes:**I hope everyone has enjoyed the story so far. The story will eventually feature even more elements from the DC universe down the road, so I hope you stick with me for it

If you've been keeping up so far, Champa the Destroyer of Universe 6 has made a Faustian bargain with Steppenwolf, the armoured servant of the evil god, Darkseid. Champa now has the ability to craft an army of monstrous cyber-soldiers called Para-Demons, but he's not stopping there. He plans to resurrect the villainous Dr. Gero to help him win the next Tournament of Power the Grand Zen-O's will be hosting and become the next Omni-King! Will he succeed, or will the "God of Apokolips" stab the greedy Destroyer in the heart?

_Planet Hell Storm, 2 days after Steppenwolf's "Product Demonstration"._

Champa smiled to himself as he watched the newest plasma storm burn and blister the air. He actually began to come to like this charred lump of coal and sulphur. The city-sized weapons lab he had been given was simply amazing, and it made for a great palace to boot. Maybe he'd use this place as a summer home when he became Omni-King. He knew that Fuwa was still mad about turning that brat into a Para-Demon, but Champa was confident Fuwa would get over it. He was worried more about Vados, though. She had been rather quiet after the boy had been transformed. She had been walking around the facility, staring at the transformation chambers and scowling each and every time.

The former street brat turned Para-Demon was following her around like a puppy dog; it would almost be cute if the hulking thing wasn't so damn hideous, _ALMOST _being the keyword here. Now to be fair, it would follow any orders given to it by either Champa himself, Fuwa or Vados, so he didn't have to worry about it going rogue, and with an almost complete purging of its mind of anything even resembling emotion, save for animal rage and fury, the idea of it developing some asinine crush on the willowy angel woman was beyond absurd.

The real concern was that Vados wouldn't help him retrieve Dr. Gero when he wanted to really get started on necessary work. She looked genuinely upset after the boy was transformed into a Para-Demon, but was quick to reconcile with Champa. Champa himself had openly believed it, but there was this nagging sense that Vados would only allow things to go so far and then she'd shut the whole thing down.

Being his martial arts teacher as well as his personal attendant meant she understood how he thought, as well as how he fought. She knew counters to his best moves that even he, a God of Destruction, still hadn't mastered. He was starting to believe that she was actually just playing along until he pushed things so far. Whenever he asked her a question or asked her to do something, she still obeyed but yet...there was an undercurrent of anger in her normally calm voice that made him suspicious.

He knew that he had to play his cards close to his chest this time, but he also had an ace up his sleeve that even the serene angel wouldn't see coming. He smiled to himself as he palmed the little surprise in his pants pocket. Even Vados didn't know about it, and it was specifically designed to be invisible to an angels divine senses.

As Champa stared out the massive windows of the central towers uppermost chamber which he was absolutely sure was both a lounge and a throne room rolled into one, he knew that Vados was even now gathering his original team from the tournament. The Grand Zeno's had visited him again the day after Steppenwolf's demonstration, informing him the rosters for each universes fighting teams would be increased to twelve. He could now employ the dead warrior he was going to pick without having to change the original roster, and even sign up a promising new addition he simply didn't have time for last time. He wondered how the other Gods of Destruction were going to employ their own weapon labs, if they were going to employ them at all.

Some of the other Gods, like Sidra and Quitela, would absolutely jump on the opportunities the labs would provide, but others would look at the labs as an insult to their respective teams abilities and blow off using them. He wasn't sure about his brother though; Beerus would probably use his own lab just to beat Champa, but anything else in the long run would most likely be a no-go. Champa was going to be using this lab for a great deal more than just winning the next Tournament of Power.

A great deal more, indeed.

He heard the automatic doors swish open and turned around. He saw Vados glide in with her new _pet _stomping in after her. She, with grace and poise. The Para-Demon, with mindless obedience and a dullards mind. Maybe Vados _did _have reason to be upset, after all. While Para-Demons were described as being fast, strong and singularly violent when unleashed, they were also described as being mindless beasts with no ability at all to plan, be strategic, or even be generally independent, being all but completely dependent on the commands of others. He wanted cunning, thoughtful fighters, not stupid brutes with no ability to adapt or think for themselves. Champa decided to nix the idea of converting his fighters into Para-Demons, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to enhance them in other ways.

Dr. Gero was going to be helping with that problem quite handily if the rumours surrounding the former Red Ribbon scientist were any indication.

"Vados", Champa addressed her softly as she walked up behind him, the Para-Demon stopping just behind her and dropping to one knee. Vados bowed primly and responded, "Yes, Lord Champa? What can I do for you?" She sounded like she normally did, a cheery undertone present when she spoke but lacking in her usual enthusiasm. Champa turned to her fully.

"We won't be converting our team into Para-Demons. I want fighters that can think, not empty-headed cyborg animals like these Para-Demons; Good for shock troops and cannon fodder, not great for sustained combat".

The relieved and genuinely happy smile that spread across Vados' pretty face was simply beautiful. She seemed to stand a little straighter than she had been during the boys transformation. "Do you mean that, Lord Champa?!" She happily squealed. As Champa was about to answer her, she crushed him in an emotional bear hug, snuggling right into the startled Destroyer Gods face. "Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you!_"

Now Champa had known that transforming the street kid into the Para-Demon had really upset her, but for Vados to be quite _this _emotional? Well, Champa was even more certain of his decision. As he tried to pry the giddy Angel off, demanding she let him go, mostly because she was embarrassing him (which is probably why she didn't let him go in the first place), the doors swished opened again, letting a smiling Fuwa and a particularly upset Steppenwolf through the doors. Steppenwolf charged right up to Champa, but stopped short of actually running into the Destroyer God. He tried to stifle a snarl, but it crept into his voice anyway. "Lord Champa, what is this about?! Your not going to be using the facility to convert your warriors into Para-Demons?! Why?! I thought you wanted to win this so-called 'Tournament of Power'!"

Champa and Vados both looked at Steppenwolf like he had grown five extra heads and they were all spitting fire. Vados let go of Champa and backed away several steps, giving the angry god a chance to both get his wits about him and get some sense of decorum back. Champa actually smiled at Steppenwolf's short tirade and gave him a surprisingly calm response: "Well, of course I want to win the Tournament, but how am I going to do that with mindless drones? I need thinking, adaptable warriors, like yourself! I want to bring this Dr. Gero back because I want him to upgrade the guys I already have on my team, but by upgrades I mean 'new abilities and improvements to what they already have', not to mention upgrade this Cell character into a true force to be reckoned with. Transforming capable fighters into mindless beasts means that their opponents will be able to trick them all the more easily. So, yeah, we're not doing the 'Para-Demon conversion thing'. Sorry, Steppenwolf, but I am not leaving _anything _to chance this time".

"_Well, damn and curses! This Champa is smarter than I thought!"_ Steppenwolf mentally cursed his luck. His Lord and Master, Great Darkseid, had originally planned to take control of all the converted fighters when this ridiculous tournament was about to start. Darkseid had used powerful magical artifacts known as the Orbs of Influence to transform the saccharine "Omni-Kings" into diminutive (and garishly coloured) versions of himself, so as to more easily manipulate them into giving him an army of Super Para-Demons! Now this cat faced cretin has thrown a wrench into the works! Still, his Master did say that the warriors could be cloned and the clones put through the conversion process if the direct approach was unavailable for whatever reason. It annoyed him, though, having to take a roundabout approach to acquiring a new army for his Master.

He had heard reports from other agents who were showing the other facilities to the Destroyers and the Supreme Kai of the remaining universes participating in this silly tournament. There were some definitive takers, but there were also some skeptical hold-outs. These ones would take some convincing! If they were half as cunning as Steppenwolf had been led to believe, it was going to be quite the tall order. Nothing in life worth accomplishing was easy, though, so he just had to focus and get to work.

He was drawn from his thoughts as Champa continued, "Vados, it is time you and I journey to Universe 7 and go retrieve Dr. Gero and Cell. I should have started the work earlier but got so caught up in all my musings, I lost track of time! When we arrive in Universe 7, we'll head straight for the Other World Check-in Station and visit King Yemma. A little bit of convincing, and he'll give us access to Dr. Gero and Cell without raising an alarm".

"As you wish, My Lord". Vados replied as she raised her staff to teleport her and her master. She paused in motion and turned to Steppenwolf. The expression on her face was not one of anger or suspicion, so Steppenwolf was surprised when she asked, "Would you like to join us, Lord Steppenwolf?" The warrior from Apokolips was curious as to this 'check-in' station. He had no idea the afterlife could be so...orderly.

His own curiosity piqued, he smiled and bowed the to the Angel. "I would be delighted, M'Lady! I am surprised by your offer, if I may be bold. Changing the boy from earlier into a Para-Demon upset quite substantially. I had thought you would rather see me burned at the stake!"

Vados' smile was more subdued, but still she smiled as she answered back, "I know you were only doing what your master asked, and I get the feeling he is not often used to people NOT doing as he commands. Besides, I'm pretty sure I can change the boy back to normal so I'm not THAT upset. I mean, if I can restore the dead back to life with a wave of my staff, then changing that sweet boy back to normal should be relatively simple. I just want to make sure of my analysis of his transformation so I can change him back correctly before I attempt it".

Steppenwolf felt like he was knocked back onto his heels. The woman could raise the dead with a wave of her staff?! Change the boy back to normal?! Perhaps, just perhaps mind you, his Master had made a bargain with the wrong deity! As Champa and the stunned Steppenwolf, along with the Para-Demon, moved closer to the female Angel, Steppenwolf began to earnestly wonder if She had, perchance, already discerned Lord Darkseid's designs? It was a worrisome thought, but Steppenwolf had no recourse but to move forward with the original scheme.

As Vados lifted her staff, which gave off a warm, multi-coloured light that made Steppenwolf's eyes water, the four were engulfed in a spherical energy field and instantly whisked on their way, far away from the charred world of Hell Storm.

!

_Other World Check-In Station_

King Yemma was not having a great day. Not in the slightest. Several of his best attendants had called in sick, and he was behind on his paper work. He just gotten an earful from other check-in station bosses from across the universe, some of whom were now out of a job thanks to the fact he let that monster Freiza out of Hell. Now, they all understood that it was that idiot Saiyan Goku who had convinced King Yemma to do it, all because of some silly martial arts tournament. Their ranting was cut short when, after Yemma got a word in, he explained about the consequences of the Tournament of Power not going in Universe 7's favour. He had some very surprising back-up from the Grand Minister of the Omni-Kings themselves! The Grand Minister had been instructed to explain that the Tournament of Power was now going to be an annual event, but now without the whole 'obliterate the losing universe' thing. The other check-in bosses were not exactly thrilled to learn a monster like Freiza had actually been instrumental in their continued survival.

"This is _beyond _absurd!" roared Hala-Penyo, the check-in boss for the Tapian people. He wore an immaculate suit of armour, the colours of polished gold, gleaming crimson, burnt orange, the colours of fire. He was built like a warrior, his armour decorated with forged likenesses of predatory animals, but he wore a simple poncho over his armour and wore a ridiculously massive wide-brimmed hat of some kind. His dressed that way so when he faced an enemy in battle (so he claimed), they would not suspect his true nature by simply having the poncho cover up his armour.

"You let that demon Freiza loose to participate in the Tournament of Power?! He's wiped out scores of worlds, whole civilizations, including the Tapian people who I was charged with guiding to their final rest! Damn it, Yemma, what were you thinking?!"

Before Yemma could answer, the Grand Minister spoke up. "Everyone please! There is no need for such angry finger pointing! As I have _previously_ explained, Freiza was released from Earth's Hell to fill a gap the team from Universe 7 suddenly incurred. They had picked Majin Boo, of all entities, but when the time for the Tournament neared, Majin Boo fell into a pronounced dormancy period and simply could not be wakened, even with physical force. Yes, Goku came up with a particularly unpalatable choice as a fill-in..."

"_Unpalatable?! _Forgive the interruption, Grand Minister, but choosing that death worshipping fiend was _unconscionable! _That brainless Saiyan should be ashamed of himself in the least!" Hala-Penyo roared even louder than before. Another Check-in boss, this one a woman, stepped forward and put her two cents in. She stood almost as tall as Hala-Penyo, but she wore billowy robes of bright blue and mossy green, with pink embroidery all over, possessed of the lithe figure of a dancer. She was Mintay, check-in boss for the people of Chocol. She spoke softly, but no less emphatically than Hala-Penyo.

"Grand Minister, while I, personally, do not blame Goku for such a singularly rash choice during such a trying time, he should be made to deal with Freiza and his armies! Yes, he made the decision he did under extremely undue stress, but at the very least he must be made to confront the fallout of those decisions, no matter how well intended those decisions may have been!"

The Grand Minister was just about to respond when a new voice spoke up, "Now, now, everybody! No need to get your panties in a twist! I may just have a solution for this!"

All eyes turned toward the main entrance of the check-in station and grew several sizes as Champa, Destroyer God for Universe 6, his Angelic attendant Vados, a hugely built and darkly armoured warrior with a twin braided beard and carrying an enormous double battle axe, and perhaps the ugliest cyborg any of the gathered deities had ever seen walked in. They made a bee-line for King Yemma's desk, surprising the gigantic ogre. The three suddenly levitated off the floor and floated toward his desk which they soon landed on. Champa lifted his eyes to King Yemma who suddenly realized he was looking a God of Destruction square in the eye. He all but leapt out his recliner and bowed to Champa and his companions.

"I am honoured by your visit, Lord Destroyer! H-how can be I of service to you, today!"

As King Yemma stuttered a greeting, Champa began looking around the check-in station at all the other gathered deities and an idea struck him as he remembered why they were all so angry. He gestured for Steppenwolf and Vados to come closer, mentioning to Yemma that "We're only going to need a minute!" The three began whispering quite animatedly, but no matter how hard someone tried to listen in (discretely, mind you) no one could hear what the three were discussing. The Para-Demon tilted its head at the three like it as curious about what they were doing. After about ten minutes the collected deities decided to ask what the new arrivals were whispering about, but said new arrivals suddenly stopped whispering and straightened as they faced King Yemma.

"Yemma, ol'bean, no need to frustrate yourself any further! My associates and I have come up with a strategy you may find favour with. If we do force that dim bulb Goku to try to fix the myriad of messes he's made, I truly believe that he would in fact make things worse. We need someone who understands the inner workings of Frieza's mind, understands his fighting style and his abilities intimately, and who could be more perfectly suited? The bio-android known as Cell, that's who". The gather deities listened with rapt attention and sometimes horror as Lord Champa told them about who and what Cell was as well as how he could be useful.

"Lord Champa, forgive my interruption, but this has gotten completely out of hand!" The angry dissension came from Hala-Penyo as he quickly stood to his feet and approached King Yemma's huge desk. His palms thumped heavily on the ancient wood as he placed his massive palms on either side of the group of visitors. Lord Champa looked unconcerned, but the huge Steppenwolf looked like he wanted to badly pick a fight. Champa stopped whatever conflict was going to happen simply by raising his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey now! No need to be so flustered, Lord Hala-Penyo!" Champa smiled a sinister grin as he looked up at the gigantic deity. He had planned for this reaction.

"My associates and I will resurrect Cell and his creator, one Dr. Gero, this is true. We, however, are not about to let this monster off the leash. His creator will be tasked with installing safety features in Cell that will keep his behaviour above board as well as making him more powerful. Dr. Gero himself will be closely watched by My attendant Vados. She will be assisted by the impressive Lord Steppenwolf here", Champa explained as he gestured at the two in question. They both nodded at Champa's address.

Champa's smile spread even wider as he continued, "I have in my pocket a device known as an Obedience Matrix Generator", and took said device out of his pocket and showed it to the assembly.

The device looked like simple metal rod, but with blood-red raised computer circuit pathways on the obsidian casing. While the thing looked rather simple, the device gave off a powerfully ominous aura that set a few of the gathered on edge, some even asking that Lord Champa put the device away. Champa made a clucking sound, as though admonishing the gathered deities for acting, as he put it, "so simply undignified".

He decided on a demonstration of the device and nodded to Steppenwolf, who quickly slid away from the confused Angel, who had thought – quite mistakenly, she quickly realized, to her horror - they were going to demonstrate the device on _Cell _after resurrecting him. She turned back to her master to demand an explanation, but was greeted by a crackling web of greenish energy that passed through the barrier she threw up like it wasn't even there and wrapping itself around and phasing into the terrified Angel woman.

She had a right to be terrified as she began screaming at the top of her divine lungs. Every single pain receptor in her beautiful body was being hyper-stimulated all at once, every single neuron was forcibly being re-tasked _into _pain receptors and being tortured as well. Patterns began emerging on her skin that resembled computer circuitry that quickly emerged oh her cheeks, burning red-hot and soon going white-hot. Actually steam was coming off her pretty face which was now contorted into a rictus of exquisite agony. She thrashed about on King Yemma's desk, trying to escape the pain. She fell onto her back and continued to thrash, her bodily lifting off the desk, kept aloft only by her head and feet.

"_WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"_ The Grand Minister was now the one roaring in anger, but before he could fly down and beat Champa senseless or help his darling daughter, Steppenwolf pulled out another Obedience Matrix Generator and blasted the Grand Minister just like Champa had zapped Vados, dropping the diminutive Angel to the floor, but where Vados was constantly screaming in unimaginable pain, her father had simply gone as limp as a boned fish.

Champa spoke up again, but his voice now carried an almost palpable sense of arrogance and cruelty to it that had not been there before.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if these little toys can reduce _ANGELS _to screaming messes or limp piles of meat on the floor, then certainly they could grant the kind of control we would need to keep Cell and Dr. Gero in line?" Champa pressed a small node on the device and suddenly Vados was released from her torment, flopping loudly onto the desk, her eyes wide with terror and residual pain. She tried to reach out to her father, either to help him or to seek his aid but her hand was clasped in Steppenwolf's huge hand and she was roughly thrown over his shoulder, completely unable to so much as blink. He snickered loudly as he thought that maybe, just maybe, this Champa wasn't so unlikable after all.

"Now", Steppenwolf spoke up to gather attention away from the deviously grinning God of Destruction and the two victims of the Matrix Generators, "Where in the afterlife do we find this 'Cell' character and his creator, eh?"

!

_Cell's Personal Dominion, Hell_

They say that Hell is what we make it, so for Cell, his own personal Hell was to face all of the opponents from his past, but never being able to harm them or even keep up with them in a fight. He had prided himself on being "perfect", which he was not or he certainly never would have wound up dead and eternally being punished in Hell. For years now, magical constructs made in the image of all his past opponents, and even all of his victims were constantly tormenting him, attacking him without end, always being faster than him, stronger than him, smarter than him, more _everything _than him. Even as a spirit, he still possessed the Saiyan ability to become more powerful with every fight, or the more grievous the injury he recovered from, and since he was a ghost, he could quite literally come back from anything! Sadly, he could never seem to become powerful enough to defeat his endless array of tormentors. Even if he managed to finally defeat one or two, there were an endless stream of hateful apparitions to take the place of the fallen, and even then the fallen would be restored good as new!

Over the years, Cell had gone from a sophisticated villain to devolve into a mindless, raging beast that screamed and roared and spat and hissed, and the few times he ever did speak since which were few and far between, He babbled incoherently about his enemies, his creator who had lied to him, his own misfortunes, weak fools who didn't deserve the rewards they had in life, with everything else an unintelligent mumbled mess.

He had been set on fire, physically torn apart and even eaten, blown to bits, chopped into chunks of still-moving meat, whatever the demented constructs could conceive of! He been literally beaten to a pulp, smashed beneath angry heels, and yet he would never find mercy or relief from this never ending torment. Well, that _had been _the case.

Lord Champa and his entourage suddenly appeared in the midst of another torture period that Cell was being put through, being drawn and quartered in particular. Cell's arms and legs looked ready to come off, hanging on only by scraps of meat. He was screaming in pain, sounding more like a crazed animal than a person. The check-in station attendant who had come with them pulled out of trouser pocket what looked like a TV remote. The constructs didn't like to be interrupted, and tried to swarm the group that had appeared in their midst. With the press of a button on the remote they were all dispelled by being reduced to wisps of vapour that vanished into nothing.

The ropes, bindings and other torture implements evaporated as well, dropping Cell to the cold rocky ground. His cracked and broken carapace broke apart even more, spraying dark purple blood everywhere. One of Cell's legs came completely off, bouncing away from him. Several knives that had been stabbed into the biological android shifted and bounced in the wounds, going in deeper, driving Cell deeper into horrid pain. His disembodied leg somehow had crawled back over to him and was now trying to reattach itself to his body. His arms and other leg were well regenerated by this time. As Cell howled and screamed, the attendant panicked and tried to run away, but Champa grabbed him by the collar and snarled in his face, "Don't you even think about! You don't leave until we have _both _Cell and Dr. Gero!"

"Are you crazy?!" the hapless attendant screamed in Champa's face. Apparently, that line of questioning was not acceptable as Champa spun like a top, taking the poor attendant for a ride. He whipped the screaming fool at Cell who was now completely regenerated and particularly upset. He caught the squealing ogre and tore him to bloody shreds in a heart beat. At this, Steppenwolf bent over and put the near comatose Vados back on her feet. He thrust her staff back into her hands and pointed at Cell and simply barked, "Do it!"

She had this terrified look in her eyes that spoke volumes. If she brought Cell back to life, he would gain enough of a power boost to give even a God of Destruction a very hard time thanks to almost a decade of constant battles and regenerating from sickening tortures. She could not even speak her protests because of that horrible device Champa had used on her. She could only obey. Steppenwolf was not happy with her taking her sweet time and angrily pointed at the deranged bio-android who was actually eating his first real victim after so many years and seeming to relish it to a morbid degree.

Vados slowly but surely raised her staff and pointed it at Cell, who had quickly finished his meal and was now staring at them with a frightening mix of primal rage, feral hunger and what could almost be called crazed glee. He had been mid-bite of what remained of the attendants left arm. The ruined limb hung from his mouth like some sort of Lovecraft chew toy. He tilted his head to one side, then the other. He sniffed the air and found they were also very real and very alive. A small torrent of hot saliva dribbled down Cell's chin as he starred at his next meal. He darted to one side and then back, and then darted to the other side and then back.

Champa realized Vados still hadn't brought the crazed fighter back to life and screamed in her face, "DO as your told and bring him back to life! Now!" This time she didn't hesitate. The damn device caused her endless pain, a sensation she had thought she would never know, but the pain would actually lessen when ever she obeyed a command. The faster she obeyed, the faster her relief from the pain. It was not a total relief though; it never would be. Vados pointed her staff right at Cell who had now dropped the ruin of the arm, almost his whole face covered in blood and bits. He screamed a bestial scream and tore off at the group on all fours. Steppenwolf cursed viciously as he readied his axe, hoping to at least slow down the warrior until the woman finished her work.

He needn't have bothered.

For a split second, Cell's whole body glowed as his life was restored. It was such a shocking and wonderful sensation, he dropped in his tracks and skidded along the ground toward his would-be victims, stopping mere inches from their feet. Gone was the halo above his head that signified he was one of the deceased.

Cell, the bio-android creation of Dr. Gero of the now defunct Red Ribbon Army, was now among the living once more. As Cell simply lay there not moving, Champa exhaled a breath as he sensed just how strong Cell had become, and how close him and his companions had come to becoming crazed android chow. He poked Cell with a foot, which he thought was a stupid idea and immediately stopped doing it. As He smiled in triumph at the first of his two prizes, he heard a voice call out, "Well, somebody had a good time!"

Champa looked around but couldn't find the source of the voice. Steppenwolf tapped him on the shoulder and gestured for him to look up. Seeing the other prize, one Dr. Gero leaning out the back window of a flying car being driven by a female attendant. The good doctor was waving at them, all smiles as the car came in for a landing. Champa noticed that Cell was starting to honestly stir, the rheumy cloudiness that was present in his eyes initially disappearing as his senses gradually came back to him. As the attendant opened the door to th car to let Dr. Gero out, Cell snapped into a sitting position, gasping as though he had come up for a breath after diving deep underwater.

He whipped around, looking at everybody. His eyes locked with Vados for a moment, a savagely hungry look lighting up his eyes in an alarming way. The expression that crossed his face made a deranged grin look positively subdued.

"I don't care what you want", he slowly began, as he regained the use of his tongue, "I don't care who you want dead, or however many dead, but as long as killing that punk-ass half Saiyan Gohan is on the itinerary , I'm so _fucking_ in!"

Dr. Gero smiled down at his masterwork as he approached. He had finally come to accept the fact that his creation wasn't perfect, but he didn't blame Cell at all. He had failed the boy, pure and simple. He had been too rash with Cell's creation, too quick with deploying him, too arrogant as to think that Cell was invincible. Well, he was going to fix all of that. He had heard from Lord Champa the details of his new 'assignment' after he had been resurrected. Lord Champa and his group would meet up with the Doctor after reviving and retrieving Cell and then they would travel to a planet called Hell Storm where he could upgrade Cell. Gero rubbed his hands eagerly as he thought about the amazing technology he would employ to get Cell up to speed.

"Creator?" Cell was looking up at the doctor, a look of dismay and shame beginning to spread across his face, but Dr. Gero knelt by his creation and said, "Now, none of that! We all stumble and fall sometimes. Sometimes more so than others, but as long as we learn to pick ourselves back up, we will do just fine in the end!"

Cell leaned back and then pushed himself to his feet, helped by Dr. Gero and a chuckling Champa. He looked at Steppenwolf and smirked. He raised a hand and gave the warrior from Apokolips a thumbs up, who awkwardly returned the gesture. Champa looked at his new ace-in-the-hole and asked, "ready to get to work?"

"Do you really need to ask, Lord Champa?"

Champa broke into hysterical laughter as he prompted Vados to transport them away.

After the group had vanished, a swirling column of pitch-black mist rose from the ground, stretching high into the sky. A set of six lurid red eyes opened in the column and looked down at the remains of the male attendant, which were being cleaned up by the female attendant who was crying her eyes out at her co-workers demise. Those horrid red eyes stared upward as a deep, accented voice spoke up.

"There was no need for all that, you retched cat! When your usefulness to me is over, I'm feeding your ruined entrails to Cell myself!" The voice hadn't been heard by the attendant as powerful, ancient magic had been employed to shield her from hearing it. When she turned around, she felt as though she was being watched. She saw a wisp of black mist swirl off of the ground and fade away.

She sniffed back more tears as she went back to the gruesome task of collecting her friends remains, never the wiser.

_Author's Notes: Well that chapter was a doozy! I hope everyone enjoyed a taste of whats to come, and I also hope you enjoy the twists i keep throwing out. Please, read and review! TTYL!_


	4. Testing Phase 1 - Modifications

**Disclaimer: **This work is a work of fiction. All characters presented herein have no relation to any person, living or dead. These Characters are the property of Akira Toriyama, DC Comics, Toei Animation and their affiliates. This work is presented without monetary compensation and for the purpose of entertainment only.

Author's Notes: This next chapter is going to be taking place a week after Cell and Dr. Gero's retrieval from Hell by Champa and associates. Let's just say that Dr. Gero has been busy.

Dr. Gero calmly walked the expansive halls of the city-sized weapons lab he had been bequeathed by the animated Lord Champa. He had always been a strong believer in science, in rationality, but dying had opened his eyes to the true supernatural. Such an awakening had made it far easier to accept the truth about Gods of Destruction, The Kais, Angels, and all the other incredible things he had come to realize were far more real than he had even given much credence to.

He had learned that Gods were real, but not only from meeting Lord Champa; he had a brief chance to meet Lord Champa's mysterious benefactor, the great and terrible Darkseid! The enormous deity was a terrifying sight, but also an inspirational one. Gero knew that such a being would demand only the absolute best, and he vowed to deliver!

Darkseid's chief scientist DeSaad was a remarkable fellow, if not a little...resistant to the idea of working with anyone, no matter how intelligent or talented they were. When DeSaad's unwillingness to work with others began to impact the work that was demanded of them both, Darkseid ordered complete cooperation between the two and Desaad's resistance vanished. When they earnestly started to work together, the two incredibly gifted but radically different scientists were both happily surprised by how much each man brought to the table.

DeSaad had learned to not only replicate, but even improve upon many of Dr. Gero's designs, even his masterpiece invention the Infinite Energy Engine which powered Dr. Gero's androids! Dr. Gero had done likewise with many of DeSaad's impressive inventions with frightening success. The Mega Para-Demons, for example, were far more powerful, more agile, more streamlined and above all, far more lethal than their bulky, dim-witted predecessors. They were quite a bit more intelligent, able to actually think strategically and plan, but still not so intelligent as to be truly independent. What made them so superior – from Darkseid's all-important viewpoint – was the overwhelming battle power they had.

They were too quick to perceive and keep track of, their reflexes were so vastly improved that one such Mega Para-Demon managed to block and deflect a blow from Darkseid himself! The physical power of the test subject was enough to actually force the God of Evil into a defensive posture! The evil lord of Apokolips had actually broke out into laughter, realizing if this new breed of Para-Demon could put HIM to his heels, what could they do to lesser foes?

The Mega Para-Demon test subject had become a kind of lab assistant to Dr. Gero and DeSaad. They had given the test subject true self-awareness and a unique personality, purely as an exercise in curiosity. They were amazed at how intelligent it had become, and were genuinely surprised when it began giving itself inspired upgrades. An extra pair of arms, integrated weaponry inspired by one of Dr. Gero's most powerful androids, the giant Number 16, along with a wicked assortment of other murderous armament.

The most unusual change though was a mechanical mask that fitted over the upgraded Para-Demons face, a prosthesis with a movable jaw equipped with razor-sharp external teeth which connected to its own jaw. Once equipped with a specially designed helmet, one could easily confused the cybernetic monster for a purely synthetic construct.

The prototype Mega Para-Demon had even developed the ability to speak, and held interesting conversations with its creators now and again. It had dubbed itself Adapt, for in battle a warrior adapted to combat situations or died. It was that simple.

Adapt was waiting for Dr. Gero as he approached the door to the main research and development lab he and DeSaad were using for Cell's upgrade procedure. Adapt bowed to him and stepped back as the door slid open, allowing the former Red Ribbon Army founder to enter. He squinted at the bright bluish-green light being given off by the huge central growth chamber in the centre of the massive lab. The form within the chamber was obscured by shadows and the sheer viscosity of the gelatinous chemicals within the chamber, but Gero smiled at it warmly as he envisioned the sheer overwhelming power of the Entity within.

Cell had been through some particularly substantial changes.

Dr. Gero and DeSaad smiled at each other as Dr. Gero approached the Apokoliptian scientist. The robed master scientist of Apokolips was seated before a wide computer console, his ghoulish face illumined by a lurid red light given off by the console. The console was displaying CGI of DNA helix's, holograms of various alien species that Gero had never seen before, but as he moved closer, he saw the unique pictograms for each of the twelve universes comprising his home Multiverse.

"Ah, Dr. Gero, my esteemed colleague! A bright and glorious good morning to you!" DeSaad was in an unusually chipper mood, but considering even when things were going well on Apokolips, the mood was always dour and severe, this could only mean good things were brewing; quite literally in this case!

"Master DeSaad, your up early this morning! How are things progressing? Surely you must have made a dozen or so advancements by now?" Such statements came off as good-nature ribbing, or so Dr. Gero came to think. DeSaad on the other hand, saw such comments as literal questions to which he felt compelled to provide a suitable answer. "At least fourteen, my friend. If we are actually keeping score?"

The two villainous genius' chuckled at that, knowing full well that DeSaad had accomplished exactly that, which always made Dr. Gero quite happy. It wasn't very often at all when he was the under-study. In this particular case, he didn't mind one damn bit. The magnitude of advanced scientific knowledge he had come into access of made even his best work seem like childish science fair work by comparison, which fired in him a new and exhilarating new hunger for discover and innovation. Just recently, he and DeSaad had combined their best works to create something quite extraordinary: a cybernetic endo -skeletal chassis that incorporated the absolute finest of Apokolips science and many of Dr. Gero's most deadly and inspired designs.

After its completion, Dr. Gero and DeSaad both realized, to the complete surprise of both super genius scientists, that the endo-skeleton by itself had well more than ten times the destructive power that the bio-android Cell had at his peak before his defeat by the half Saiyan Son Gohan!

The cybernetic construct had several other amazing new features that were critical to their work. For starters, the endo-skeleton had the ability to analyze and duplicate what DeSaad had termed "meta-human" abilities, after studying earthlings with remarkable powers. Even more paranormal powers like telepathy or other psychic abilities could be copied. Whats more, the copied powers could be translated over to any organic components integrated into it through real-time genetic re-sequencing that could affect each and every cell of whatever organic components were installed simultaneously. If those powers were too complex for rapid duplication, however, the endo-skeleton could extract bio-samples from the target, isolate the genetic component that code for the ability or abilities, and them integrate them into the hosts genetic code.

This was a major feature but not the only one. The endo-skeleton could rapidly self-regenerate its physical structure and even upgrade its own technology in response to battle conditions it may encounter. It could adapt itself to become immune to whatever ability, weapon system, or even hostile natural environment that assailed it. It could even modify the organics of its host to develop the biological equivalents of those adaptations!

A greatly upgraded version of Dr. Gero's Infinite Energy Engine installed in triplicate, the ability to absorb other technologies into its own systems, to reconfigure itself into whatever form the host desired in real-time, and a slew of other incredible abilities allowed this amazing construct to easily be Dr. Gero's most powerful purely synthetic creation.

Of course, he recognized that he wasn't the only scientist contributing to this technological super marvel.

DeSaad's own input and designs had been integral to the Endo-skeleton being created in the first place. Dr. Gero had long ago realized that his own mighty sense of pride and egotism had cost him his well deserved revenge against that Saiyan wretch Son Goku. If he had not allowed is own closed-minded arrogance to guide him, Cell's original design would have been far more adaptable, more substantial from the sources it drew from and so on.

He now stood to Desaad's immediate left, gazing proudly at the massive transparent chamber that Cell now rested in. Wires and tubes led from both the top and bottom of the chambers insides into his own form as well as the cybernetic endo-skeleton he and DeSaad had created, which was even now being integrated into Cell's ever-changing body.

"I have to say Gero, your bio-android is a pleasure to work with! I have never seen physiology so well...adaptable to the changes we are inducing in him. Through my latest modifications, His body is breaking itself down and rebuilding itself over and over again, slowly incorporating the cybernetic chassis into itself. His own nervous system and the chassis' neural network have begun to interweave and interact with each other. This process has been gradually accelerating for the last thirty-two hours. What should have taken the rest of the month to complete and finalize will now take a mere three-and-a-half more days!"

Dr. Gero did a double take and stared with dumb-struck awe at the alien scientist. He sputtered, stopped, drew in a long breath and tried to speak again. "You don't just mean his nervous system connecting to the Chassis neural net, do you?" he asked simply. DeSaad shook his head and smiled in such a way, Gero instantly knew the answer to his question. The almost crazed grin that spread across the evil Doctor's face looked to split his head clean in two. His wicked grin seemed to grow even larger as an alert from DeSaad's console drew his attention. The scientist from Apokolips and his partner from the Earth of Universe 7 both smiled the same hideous smiles as the data scrolling across the screen began to rapidly scroll and change. They also noted that Cell himself was beginning to twitch and jerk, if as though he had heard the exchange and had become excited by it. The data on the console, however, now showed a dramatic acceleration of the integration process, if the ever growing intensity of light coming from the chamber hadn't been a obvious-enough clue that something incredible was going on.

"Three-and-a-half-days? I beg your pardon, my good Doctor. I meant three-and-a-half _hours!_" DeSaad now crowed. He and the Doctor began congratulating each other on the unmitigated success of their joint experiment. Unbeknownst to them, since the two had been so wrapped up in this completely unexpected turn, they never noticed Adapt standing at a console at the far wall, keying in additions and changes that neither scientist had proposed or approved of. Lord Darkseid had secretly told the Mega Para-Demon to keep on eye on both of the scientists, to make sure they both stayed on course, and to "correct" that course if need be.

Adapt realized he didn't need to play watch-dog, as Lord Darkseid had commanded. He only needed to give the work of DeSaad and Dr. Gero a few...helping pushes, here and there. They had yet to begin using DNA samples from the Tournament of Power fighters. While such additions wouldn't be an absolute necessity if their work on the cybernetic chassis panned out, there simply was no room for error in this most important of endeavour. Where Adapt had received this new impetus, even he did not know, but as long as the great Lord Darkseid was served by it, he didn't mind at all.

As the Mega Para-Demon walked over to his masters to congratulate them on their upcoming success, he walked by a blank console in the wall that seemed to be clouded over by what would be described as inky black smoke. As Adapt walked past, completely oblivious, Six horrid red eyes opened in the swirling black and a mouth full of long, razor-sharp teeth opened in the miasma spreading into a demonic grin.

!

Lord Champa had arrived at the lab after he had received summons from Dr. Gero and Darkseid's man, DeSaad. He was anxious to see what the reborn Cell could do, but he had to keep up appearances. He had told the deities of Universe 7 who used to run afterlife check-in stations for races that Freiza had wiped out that Cell would be resurrected and deployed to deal with the intergalactic tyrant as quickly as could be done. Now Lord Champa always knew that the work would be done quickly, but not months ahead of the originally predicted schedule! Now that was what HE called excellent timing! He felt like a completely new person but not just because his little stratagem was playing out beautifully, he felt a new energy he hadn't felt in eons!

He had always felt the mortal saying "clothes make the man" was as silly as it was half-baked. Now, after taking on a new outfit (a gift from Lord Darkseid, based upon the great Lord Darkseid's glorious armour, no less) he truly felt like a Destroyer God! His old outfit was nice, but nowadays it seemed like something a deity would wear to a fancy dress party or some other formal occasion. When he had initially tried on the new outfit, he at first thought it would look tacky on him or not fit, but it seemed to conform to every curve and shaped like a second skin. He actually felt more powerful than ever! Maybe it was just how regal the armour looked on him giving him a boost of confidence but he had never in his very long life felt so perfectly energized!

He practically skipped toward the lab where Dr. Gero and DeSaad worked to enhance the bio-android. He even began to whistle a merry tune the closer he approached to the lab. He was just arriving at the labs enormous door when he began to hear a very odd noise. It sounded like a gigantic pot beginning to boil over, over-laid with the sound of very thick and heavy glass cracking and breaking. His merry mood died away, terror that something was suddenly going wrong with his plans filling his veins, so he simply simply ripped the doors out of their frame, uncaring where the pieces landed. The blast of piercingly bright neon blue-green light that erupted from the now open doorway was so intense, so instantly complete in its sheer power, it made the cat-like deity recoil in actual pain and sudden shock.

As Champa flailed like a drunken loon and screamed that he had been blinded, he never realized that Dr. Gero and DeSaad were staggering and shuffling out of the lab as fast as their feet could take them. Neither of them could see anything either and plowed right into Champa, all three flopping onto the floor in a particularly indignant heap. A loud thumping caught their attention, along with a familiar voice shouting, "What in Lord Darkseid's name is going on here?!" It was Steppenwolf, and from the unusually high pitch his voice took on for a moment, Champa could swear the Apokoliptian warrior actually sounded worried about something. As he tried to disentangle himself from Gero and DeSaad, they all heard a massively heavy _thump_. They all realized that the incredibly intense and painful light was beginning to die down as well,

Another loud _thump_ could be heard coming from the direction of the lab. The sounds of glass being crushed beneath _very _heavy feet joined in with the heavy footsteps, for that was what the first noise was without a doubt in anyone's mind. Another new noise that all four now noticed was a deep, guttural growling noise. It was like listening to some huge beast trying to enunciate a single word, but it ended up being drawn out into an almost unintelligible growl.

Champa and the others had finally untangled themselves and were now on their feet, staring into the still brightly illuminated lab. As much as the intensity of the light bothered everyone, they still tried to focus their eyes enough to see just what the hell was going on in the lab.

They needn't have bothered.

A huge black armoured hand reached through the torn open door and clasped the frame so tightly, it crumpled like an empty tin can being crushed. As the owner of the hand became clearer, another hand reached through the opening and also grabbed the door frame just above the first one. Ignoring all the other obvious details, their was something odd about the second hand; both hands were left hands! Another hand came through the door, but this one was a right hand, quickly followed by a second right hand which also clasped the door frame, buckling it as well. What made all four viewers particularly nervous? A pair of demonic red eyes opened in the blinding green light, glowing with ominous power and a look of terrible rage in them.

There was something else there, in those terrible eyes. An almost mindless rage, ever mounting fury, but also a frighteningly focused and powerful hatred. Each and everyone gathered at the lab leaped, ducked, or just plain ran out of the way as the owner of the eyes exploded out of the lab with such power, most of the wall came with him. What ever it was, it let out a monstrous roar that seemed to shake the whole facility, overflowing with mindless rage and bestial fury that put even the savage Steppenwolf of Apokolips and the cruel Lord Champa, God of Destruction for Universe 6 on their heels. The creature was still giving off that terrible light, and made that strange, drawn out growl again after it roared.

As it vanished down the hall, Champa finally realized just what it had been trying to convey through its growls: it hadn't actually been _growling_ at all...it had been saying a single name.

That name had been "Frieza".

It was going after the intergalactic tyrant of Universe 7!

Champa slumped to the floor in relief as he realized that the huge monster was the upgraded Cell, who was now possessed of a savage new lease on life and was already off to get to work fulfilling the plan. Oh, the anxiousness of the young!

As Champa collected himself off of the cold floor, he smiled at his partners in crime and chuckled, "Now the fun begins! DeSaad! Dr. Gero! You two brainiacs report to Lord Darkseid and let him know the plan is already in motion and Cell is dispatched. Honestly, He probably already knows and I would be quite surprised indeed if great Darkseid didn't already know. Come on, Steppenwolf! You and I have a meeting to keep with those idiotic check-in station deities. If they actually did their damn jobs, Frieza would never have been allowed back in the land of the living, spirit or not!"

Steppenwolf simply nodded and jogged after the God of Destruction who had also taken of at an animated pace. As the four went their separate ways, Adapt staggered out of the lab missing his chest armour, three of his arms, and his mechanical face mask. Tears streamed down his hideous face but not from the pain of his injuries.

The true mastermind behind Darkseid and Champa becoming partners had told Adapt to use DNA from the various Tournament of Power participants. The samples used had not come from the other facilities, though. The samples used had been collected _during _the original Tournament!

There was too much risk in trying to collect the DNA using the other facilities, and besides, the true mastermind didn't want Darkseid to _ever _get his hands on all that powerful genetic material. The samples would have been covertly destroyed anyway.

Adapt had also been instructed to add in DNA samples of warriors from universes completely separate from the twelve universes that made up the Grand Zen-O's Multiverse. There were even the additions of two most unexpected samples, of which Adapt hadn't the most minor of clue as to how they were obtained. Even these powerful samples had been added without DeSaad and Dr. Gero knowing about them.

As Adapt used his remaining arm to wipe away the tears and blood on his face, he looked forlornly down the hall at the massive hole that the newly remade Cell had blown in the wall and sadly whispered, "What have I _done_?!"

_**Author's Comments:**__Man, another great chapter! I hope everybody enjoyed this one just as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you! See you next time!_


	5. Testing Phase 2 - Deployment

**Disclaimer:** This work is a work of fiction. All characters presented herein have no relation to any person, living or dead. These Characters are the property of Akira Toriyama, DC Comics, Toei Animation and their affiliates. This work is presented without monetary compensation and for the purpose of entertainment only.

Author's Notes: Guess who's back?! Cell has been reborn! He has now awoken from his upgrade transformation a vastly more dangerous being. Get ready for "Testing – Phase 2: Deployment!"

Dr. Gero and DeSaad both knelt before the evil being responsible for their mutual resurrection. Dr. Gero and DeSaad had travelled to the home universe of great and terrible Darkseid. They had used Vados to transport them across dimensional space, using a powerful artifact called the Key of All Things to break through the barriers between multiverses. The two super scientists had learned that their respective home universes were each a part of a much larger multiverse, but in this case, the multiverse that DeSaad called home and the multiverse that Dr. Gero called home were two completely _separate_ multiverses. A mind-boggling realization, but one that could wait for further analysis; Darkseid called

"So, my servants", the dark god of Apokolips began, his voice an ocean deep rumble, "I am to understand that Cell somehow awoke much earlier than expected and tore free from the transformation lab I so graciously bequeathed to you two? I am also to understand that he somehow resisted your best efforts to recapture and return to stasis? I had come to understand that there were measures in place to control the bio-android brat and bind him to my will. Was I in error of my interpretation of the relevant information?"

The dark god's tone gradually became more antagonistic, more accusatory, more _furious _as he spoke, looking out the massive main window of his hellish throne room, his arms behind his back in a deceptively contemplative pose. Darkseid snarled as he had not received a reply from his two servants regarding this matter. He turned to face his terrified and completely embarrassed "scientific experts". Darkseid's horrible red eyes glowed like bloody hellfire, his rage an almost palpable thing in the room. He had wanted a powerful general to lead his armies and one day obtain for him the Anti-Life Equation. Was that such a complicated thing to ask for, especially from two so-called geniuses? Apparently so!

"My Lord Darkseid! Please, hear me! We have both examined, in great detail, the data logs of our experiments and we have found something most disturbing!" DeSaad cried in panic at the thought of his masters "judgment".

The power of his fearsome Omega Beams could revive the dead as Darkseid had done with him after his failed attempt to convert the ridiculous 'hero' know as Superman into an advanced Para-Demon prototype. Superman had snapped his neck like a twig, his mind partially consumed with primal rage from the aborted transformation process. The power of his masters Omega beams, while infinitely destructive could also undo death itself. Darkseid had made it abundantly clear that he had revived DeSaad because he did not want to trouble himself with finding a replacement for him.

Darkseid knew that DeSaad would _never _dare to interrupt him without due cause, or what he perceived as due cause, but he had a suspicion as to what DeSaad would be reporting so he allowed the interruption this time. His suspicions were quickly confirmed.

"My Lord, our data logs show that the control mechanisms we implemented in Cell's redesign were either reconfigured for other tasks or simply not install first or last! Someone had remote access to our work stations and tampered with our work! While, yes, the enhancements to Cell were indeed implemented, all of the control mechanisms whether software or hardware were simply not installed, with other additions designed by neither myself or Dr. Gero being installed in their stead!"

Darkseid had actually been hoping that DeSaad wouldn't say that. Yet another great disappointment that day indeed! He fully turned to the two scientist and asked them a simple, but rather loaded question, "If the control mechanisms were disabled by an outside source, then_ who was _the outside source?!"

The Dark God of Apokolips shouted with such force that walls of his throne room cracked and the two scientist were thrown with such force that they slammed into the throne room doors with bone pulping force. The only reason the two scientists survived the outburst of power was that Gero had been reborn into his android body and DeSaad had been permitted to enhance himself in a similar fashion. That wasn't to say that the impact was painless, or even pleasant.

After shoving parts that shouldn't have moved back into their proper place, it was Dr. Gero who spoke next, quite intent on answering his new lord. He quickly shot to his feet despite the searing pain in his extremities and shouted back, though simply to hear over Darkseid's terrible voice.

"Great Darkseid! My colleague and I are ever endeavouring to answer your query. We have been seeking answers ever since Cell's escape! We had discovered many clues, one of which is eminently stunning!" The Doctor walked toward Darkseid with a confidence he certainly wasn't feeling, producing a small metal cube from his vest pocket. It was an upgraded version of the Apokoliptian personal computer known as a Mother Box. The Mother box floated from the Doctor's outstretched hand and begun to spin in place until its form was a blur. A beam of light was suddenly fired from the spinning cube and exploded in the middle of the room. What was produced was a holographicly projected recording of what had happened in the lab. Darkseid's crimson eyes almost flew out his skull as he realized that the Mega Para-Demon prototype, who had called himself Adapt, was covertly going from console to console making the changes that had been discovered, but that was not the most important discovery. Not at all!

His supernatural powers allowed him to see what others could not; the black smoke obscuring a console and the vague visage of the one responsible for this _blatant treachery_ appearing out of it! As the recording continued, Darkseid went from a stunned fury to snarling like a massive angry beast. To say that he was upset would have a criminal understatement. He slammed his hands together, dispelling the hologram and launching the Mother Box back at Dr. Gero at near Mach velocities.

"So! I am to be made the puppet, to dance to the tune this extra-dimensional vagabond wishes to play?! Darkseid thinks not! Not! At! All!" As he bit off each of the words, Darkseid's terrible wrath was now even more palpable, the room seemed to become a sauna! He snarled at the two scientists and bellowed his next command, "Get after Cell! Take my fastest warship and track him down! Our traitorous 'partner' must have a means to transport Cell from this universe back to his Cell's own universe. FIND IT!"

Never had two beings so quickly rushed from the God of Evil's throne room in the entire recorded history of the blood-and-ash blackened world of Apokolips! They literally flew to the vast terrestrial based space port and picked the largest, most powerful of Darkseid's war vessels, an obsidian behemoth several miles long and bristling with armaments. They both landed with a _boom!_ In front of the huge vessels boarding ramp and shoved and pushed crew members out of their way as they ran to the bridge. DeSaad had alerted each and every ship captain that they would be choosing a ship to use in their hunt for the errant bio-mech.

The captain of the vessel rose from his throne-like command chair and greeted the two with pomp and circumstance...well, he tried to.

"My Lords! I am humbled to welcome you aboard the _Devastator_! I am..."

DeSaad vaporized the mans head with a precision energy pulse from his eyes and flip-kicked his corpse behind the command chair, quickly replacing the former captain. Dr. Gero shoved the pilot out of her seat and plotted a pursuit course, using data gathered from analyzing Cell's energy trail. He pushed the engines to maximum and the monstrous vessel quickly lifted into the toxic skies of Apokolips, the back-wash from the engines incinerating any and every poor soul not fast enough to find cover. As the mighty war ship began to pick up speed and angle its nose up toward the stars, Darkseid glared after its departure, silently vowing to end the existence of the being who had so easily tricked him into this damned arrangement!

What even the Dark Lord of Apokolips did not know was that another was watching the vessel depart the blasted world. The being in question was no longer concealed in black smoke, but stood tall and proud several hundred miles away from the space port. Its six blood red eyes glowed with mirth and mischief, not malice. Quite contrary to its appearance.

If the Being and Darkseid stood next to each other, the mystery entity would be taller than Darkseid by half of the Dark Gods height!

It wore long, flowing robes of glossy obsidian and dark ashen gray over midnight black baggy pants and a fine high-necked shirt of matching shade and colour. What added a sense of menace to the entity was the heavy, ornate armoured boots and articulated leg plating, the hideously stylized metal girdle about its wait that held its robes closed and also held up a long metallic skirt that matched the robes in colour. The entity wore a fabulously ornate chest plate over the fine shirt that was similarly styled after the girdle, completing its attire with massive sectioned gauntlets that could have doubled for wearable shields. Every single piece of armour the being wore was decorated with images of hellish monsters and deathly visions.

While the Being was menacingly attired, its face was hideous. Its skin was smooth and oily black that seemed to harden in places and sprout nasty barbs. Its head was vaguely reminiscent of a dinosaur but with curved yellow spiked sprouting along the jaw-line. It had ghostly white hair that rose from its ugly head in a massive billowy mane, styled into nine long braids that reached to the ground, kept from the dirt by its huge and expansive cloak which all but completely covered the huge boulder it was standing on. Its six red eyes were focused on the departing ship. It had a large primary eye on either side of its head with two smaller eyes beneath each larger one.

Those eyes narrowed in thought. It spoke allowed.

"Darkseid, dear boy, you have no idea whats to come, but Cell will be a part of something truly magnificent, whether you like it or not. Kids today are just so tempermental!" It finished with a booming laugh as it vanished in a swirling vortex of wind and blackened ash.

**Author's Notes:** WOW! I have been so busy at work these last couple of months I just haven't been able to get this out! I am sorry to all my faithful readers that this took so long. Now, dear ones, crack open a cold one and enjoy yourselves! TTYL!


	6. Testing Phase 3 - Final Results

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own any character here within. All are the properties of DC comics, Warner Brothers Entertainment, Toho, Akira Toriyama and all affiliates. This work is presented for pure entertainment purposes and is not intended for monetary gain. If the lawyers don't like it, too damn bad!**

**A/N****: It has been quite a while since I worked on this story, but with work I have been completely brain-blitzed. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter because there are going to be even more surprises this time around (Oh, and Frieza gets some comeuppance, for good measure!).**

Frieza, the self-proclaimed "Emperor of The Universe" was sitting in his command chair on the bridge of his flag ship, overseeing a rather bountiful operation. A planet known as Tapia had been razed to the ground recently and his troops were still collecting the spoils. Artwork renowned the universe over for its beauty and opulence. Precious stones and rare earth elements, natural resources aplenty! The Tapian people had been a bit of a disappointment themselves, being rather frail and lacking in any kind of respectable combat spirit. His troops had wiped the race from existence in under a single day. Bah! Frieza had hoped to sell a few of the black market as slaves, but they simply weren't the good stock he had initially thought they were. His top advisors had informed him of the massive profit he'd make of the Tapians; for the dismal reality that Frieza had discovered, his top advisors were now floating outside of his ship after being kicked out of the airlock. Sans space suits of course.

While the people were a disappointment, the planet most certainly was not. He watched through the ships observation monitor, the buildings being demolished for the construction of new Freiza Force facilities and even vacation facilities for paying customers. Luxurious hotels, lavish recreational locales, whatever came to mind. He smiled as he thought about a few "risque" resorts that would be huge draws for more "discerning" clientele, but was drawn from his reverie when a huge explosion on the planet surface swept away a massive horde of recently acquired workers.

Frieza's purple lips pulled back into an annoyed snarl and he growled, "Who the Hell would dare attack my personnel without my express permission! It took me months of terrorizing the innocent and pathetic to actually get a sizable work force that could actually DO the work!" Whoever was responsible, Frieza was personally going to eviscerate with a rusty spoon! He levitated out of his command chair and rocketed through the front observation port, his subordinates just barely managing to buckle themselves down into their seats and get on emergency respirators. He aimed right for the centre of the huge fireball that had wiped out his slave work force.

The blast wave had since passed by, but Frieza sensed that whoever - or _whatever_ – had fired off the blast-wave was still in the general area. More to the point, he could _hear _it, all angry roaring and growling.

It wasn't very happy, whatever it was.

Well, HE wasn't very happy either! Frieza had a guaranteed cash-cow ready to put up for auction after the renovation work was done and then this mystery assailant thought to just blow up his hard earned spoils. He thought not! He zeroed in on the angry roars and shot off toward it, but as he got closer he could swear he felt the energy signature of his own late father, King Cold, as well as his own energy signature. What made him even angrier was he also sensed the energy of that nasty earth Saiyan Son Goku and even his old servant Vegeta! What in the Hell...

He sensed a great many other energy signatures, some he had even sensed during the Tournament of Power! It was all a jumble, a veritable mess of power signatures so tangled he couldn't tell how many or who they had belonged to! Now this had quickly turned from an aggravating affront to a most delicious mystery. He began to speculate just what in the galaxy was going on, but a savage roar frothing with hate and rage exploded out of nowhere and sent him hurtling skyward! As he flipped head or heals, Frieza actually smiled. A power signature he remembered well was that of the savage Saiyan Broly, and he was feeling it again.

He knew that whomever – or whatever – was giving off this kaleidoscope energy signature could be something he could use. Of course he knew to be cautious, but yet this mystery was too enticing to pass over. As he righted himself and propelled himself back down, he saw a huge cloud of smoke blown away as though by a powerful wind; more than likely, the the owner of the strange energy signature he was picking up flaring their aura. He knew that whatever he would see would be impressive, but what he did see...well, he had never seen anything like it before.

The being was monstrous!

It stood almost as tall as a Saiyan in their Great Ape form. This was no ugly monkey, though. It was covered head to toe in a glossy metallic carapace, somewhere between "arthropod exoskeleton" and "high-tech battle suit". It had six massively muscular arms and a single pair of monstrous legs; it was a muscular grotesque!

Its armour was covered in nasty spikes and curving blades, segmented sections that conformed to the shapes of the hulking muscles beneath. Three long and equally armoured tails extended from the base of its spine, each equipped with wicked and powerful looking three-digit grasping appendages. Its armoured shell was almost completely black, save for the barest of gaps at points in the armour exposing dark purple flesh; he could swear he also saw computer circuitry _growing _just beneath the surface of what soft tissue he could discern.

There were recessed ovular crystalline panels and what looked vaguely like jet engine exhaust port on the legs, arms, shoulders and even on the chest that added a bizarre kind of decoration to the otherwise glossy black armour. The creature was looking away from Frieza as it stomped around, snarling and sniffing the air, as though looking for prey. It jerk upright and whipped around so it was looking Frieza right in the eye.

"Gah! What an ugly brute you are!" Frieza couldn't help but blurt out as he locked eyes wit the bio-mechanical monster. It had six burning red reptilian eyes situated just back from the mouth, with another of those ovular crystals smack in the middle of its forehead, though larger than the others. Its bulging neck was covered in the same bio-armour as the rest of its body, segmented plates leading to the back of its head. Its head was crowned by a huge, wide-swept cranial plate decorated with long spines and decorative antler-like horns extending from the sides of its head which grew out from the massive cranial plate. The face was a ugly mix of a wide, bulky reptile mixed with long, webbed insect-like armoured mandibles that extended from just behind the jaw and high on the cheek bones. Those same mandibles closed around the mouth as the beast straightened its posture.

It reared back as though stretching. Frieza had a bad feeling about what it was going to do next. He concentrated for a moment, concentrating his Ki which burst from him, first a dark purple which quickly charged over to fiery gold. He now was transformed into his Golden Frieza form, and not a moment too soon! The creature dropped into an aggressive crouch and roared at Frieza, its mouth filled with long, gleaming serrated teeth. The air itself seemed to shatter and the beast broke into a charge, pulverizing the ground beneath its huge armoured feet with each loping stride.

The now golden tyrant flew backwards like a golden comet, firing dark red energy blasts at the beast with abandon, trying to damage it enough to either maim the thing or simply buy enough time to escape. Frieza's blitzkrieg only seemed to infuriate the beast more, which roared even louder and sped up its charge. It swiped at him with demented abandon, snapping its huge jaws, spittle flying everywhere.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you it isn't polite to spit at people?!" Frieza all but shrieked as he got splashed in the face. He shot straight up and angrily wiped the slimy saliva off his face. His face was now a rictus of fury, incensed that the ugly brute had spat on him. Frieza hadn't actually been that bothered by the attempted assault. You just go around spitting on people! Proper etiquette and all that!

Frieza shrieked like a banshee as he began to power up. He no longer cared about lost resources or his work teams (the former because he was fed up with the beast and decided to look somewhere else, the latter because he never really did first or last). His only "care" was to see the huge monster dead, reduced to component atoms and scattered to the cosmic winds! He was going to shove this power ball right down the things ugly gullet!

That had been the idea.

The creature had another, though.

It had skidded to a halt when Frieza had taken skyward. It was now looking directly at him, but gone was the mindless bestial fury. That had been replaced by a strange look of curiosity mixed with a stark look or recognition. Whatever. Frieza had been able to build up enough power to hopefully kill the thing, and it was staring at him like an idiot. Frieza was now even angrier, not only having been spat upon but also having to use so much energy to deal with some over-grown simpleton of a monster!

He snarled as he launched his attack, the gigantic dark red energy ball roaring toward the huge bio-mechanical creature which was still regarding the incoming attack with curiosity and not aggression. It tilted it huge head backwards and riased all six of its arms skyward, the palm of its huge hands facing upward, as though it was going to catch the attack. Even though Frieza scoffed at the very notion of the beast catching his power ball, he couldn't shake the feeling that the creature just might pull it off.

Frieza's fears were justly founded because instead of vaporizing the beast, the power ball slammed into the beasts upturned palms and simply stopped. What happened next made Frieza's eyes almost pop out his skull with shock. The power ball began to shrink! Frieza quickly realized that the creature was absorbing his attack like it was the easiest thing in the universe to do! This enraged Frieza even further, that some ugly monster could nullify one of HIS attacks! The unmitigated nerve of the thing!

He started to power up again, forming another power ball when he noticed something odd. The first power ball stopped shrinking but now seemed to undulate and writhe. It had actually begun to break and split into smaller power balls! Each new smaller power ball was then promptly absorbed into the creature's six hands. It was now staring at Frieza intently. It straightened its posture and then did something that further unsettled the Emperor of Evil; it levitated off the ground and slow floated up toward Frieza until the two were equal eye-level. The creature stared at Frieza with a completely flat expression on its hideous face. The two locked eyes and neither made a sound for almost ten minutes.

Frieza was getting quite tired of the silence and was about to speak up when the creature made a series of low growling noises as it stared at him.

Frieza at first thought it was simply making random noise, but when the creature made those same series of noises again, he was surprised to realize that the creature was actually talking to him. He cocked his head to one side as he tried to make out what was being said. The task was made difficult by the incredibly deep and gravelly voice the creature had. He tried tuning out all other noises and began to listen for patterns, for syntax and grammar. As he mentally filtered out what he was hearing, he was pleasantly surprised by just how well spoken the creature...no, how well spoken _the mystery fellow_ was.

He realized, with a start, that the fellow knew him, knew about him, and even mentioned meeting him once in Earth's Hell before everyone was sent to their own unique places of punishment. Curious and more curious. Frieza asked the bizarre fellow who he was, but instead of getting a verbal answer, the giant began to glow and physically change shape. Well, it wasn't so much a changing of shape as a changing of _size. _

The general shape of the being stayed relatively the same, except now it was shorter and now more stream-lined with an elegant musculature. The mandibles around the mouth became a bizarre chin guard and the creatures face was now distinctly humanoid with a bridged nose, high elegant cheeks and a striking jaw line that was partially hid by the chin guard. Dark blue iris' lit up the black sclera of a single pair of almond-shaped eyes. Frieza now had a strong idea of who this was, though he thought it was impossible; on the other hand, he himself had died and been brought back so why not?

"Your Cell, yes? The bio-android that fought Goku the Saiyan?" Frieza asked. The person who he now realized was Cell simply nodded. Cell actually spoke up, but this time it was with a discernible, deep and cultured tone of voice and not the beastly growling he heard earlier.

"Indeed, Lord Frieza, indeed. I am Cell. I have returned and, as your expert eyes can divine, I have had some...work done", he chuckled at his own choice of words. Frieza noticed other changes to the bio-android that peaked his curiosity. Cell retained his three long armoured tails, but they were now situated much higher on his back instead of being extensions of his spine. Also, Cell seemed to have developed what could be described as armoured metal dreadlocks sticking out the back of his head, each tipped with a nasty-looking stinger.

He still had the extra four arms from his earlier form, and all of the decorative elements of his armoured shell were still present, but now those same elements were now more expressed. It was like all of Cell's earlier bulk hid those traits, and now that he was smaller and slimmer, they were easier to notice.

"Work done, indeed", Frieza chimed in.

He smiled at the young bio-mech and wondered if he might ask him who did the work and maybe make an appointment for himself. While Cell was at rest, not even moving a muscle, Frieza could more accurately gauge what kind of power Cell had. If Cell had been simply _strong _before, now he was strength incarnate! Such a glorious transformation! Frieza knew he stood no chance fighting Cell, but yet he couldn't help but want to put his own not inconsiderable power to the test. As repulsive as the thought was, perhaps, like his hated enemy Goku, he should find powerful opponents and always try to test and improve himself. He'd always have the chance to self-examine and self-improve.

Cell perked up and tilted his head back, looking down his nose at Frieza. He smiled in an almost sad manner and said, "I know what your thinking, Lord Frieza, but unfortuntely, My resurrection came at a price".

"Oh? Due tell", Frieza responded. Frieza did not have a good feeling about the "price" Cell mentioned and he soon provided with a more concrete reason than a gut feeling. Cell said, "I was programmed to kill you. To put a permanent stop to your tyrannical ways. I personally have no grievance with you, Lord Frieza, but the powers-that-be have had quite enough of your behaviour. Far too touchy if you ask me".

Frieza signed in resignation. He had enjoyed his second resurrection – or was it his third? He had lost count - and was just finding his stride again! Bother! Well, at least he could give the universe a final glimpse of his glorious Golden Frieza form! He was about to power up for an attack when Cell vanished from sight, only to appear right next to the space emperor and spin-kicked him clean in the face, sending Frieza high into air and making him see stars.

He had no idea that Cell had dropped into a very familiar stance and began powering up himself, focusing his Ki between his cupped two hands.

"**KAAAAAAA!"**

Frieza's eyes were still spinning in their sockets as he finally regained enough wit to stop his ascent and right himself, shaking out his head as he did so.

"**MEEEEEEE!"**

As Frieza finally managed to snap out of his kick-induced daze, he snapped to attention as the memory of the same horrible mantra being spoken by that despicable monkey Goku. How did...?! Never mind! He had to get away! He found frantically scanned the skies and finally found his ship. He turned back to Cell and powered up to his maximum, preparing another but far more powerful energy ball to throw at the android. He screamed defiance as he reared back and made sure his aim was true.

"**HAAAAAA!"**

No! No No No NO! Frieza needed more time, and threw the power ball at the android, hopping to catch him before he was able to attack. He scolded himself for such a sloppy throw, but Frieza had zero intentions of being caught in _that _attack one more time! He shot toward his ship in low orbit, never realizing that Cell had shifted his stance and was now locked onto frieza's ship.

"**MEEEEEEE!"**

Frieza smashed through the port-side airlock, completely oblivious to the handful of soldiers that got sucked into the void. He zoomed down the hall and burst onto the bridge like a bomb going off. He flew to the pilots seat and threw the man over his shoulder like a piece of discarded trash. He grabbed the control and swung the ship around with terrified abandon and punched the main drives to full.

He thought he had gotten away, or at least far enough away to make a hyper-jump.

He was wrong.

"**HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**

Cell fired off a Kamehameha blast so powerful, it turned deep night into blinding day, blowing the clouds away and splitting the sky. The blue-white energy blast was so powerful, it shorted out the systems of Frieza's ship like an EMP well before it was even half-way!

As the self-proclaimed 'Emperor of The Universe' turned to a screen showing the planet behind them – as well as the energy blast screaming toward them - he collapsed into the pilot seat and dejectedly whine, "Why me?! Why is it always ME?!"

The blast struck the ship with such force that it could be compared to a tidal wave washing away a sand sculpture. Nothing and no one was left of the ship to speak of. It had simply been vaporized.

The only witnesses to what happened were the two scientists who had upgraded Cell and the terrified crew of the enormous warship they had commandeered to track Cell down and retrieve him.

Dr. Gero and DeSaad stared at each other, then at the massive display screen that showed the planet they had tracked the errant android to and finally back to each other. Both scientists really wanted to continue living and hoped Cell would be in a cooperative mood. They were pleasantly surprised when Cell himself flew into orbit like a rocket and zoomed toward them, sending a signal that Frieza had been taken care of. He also apologized for damaging the lab the two evil scientists had been sharing.

The two scientists stared slack-jawed as the text from Cell's message scrolled across the screen. DeSaad bonelessly flopped into the captains chair and dropped his head into his hands and blew out an exasperated but relieved sigh. Dr. Gero on the other hand coughed into his hand and bark at the communications officer to send a message to Cell to come aboard the ship.

They were heading home.

To Apokolips.

As the dramatically transformed android flew toward a gaping hangar door that was beginning to open on the underbelly of the ship, he couldn't help but wonder about something that seemed off.

Just before Frieza and his ship had been destroyed, a small yellow metal ball had emerged from his chest. After it glowed for a moment, it had popped out and disappeared. He really had to ask Dr. Gero about just what that was, simply for sating his curiosity.

As he flew into the hangar, he gently alighted on the deck and began walking toward what he thought was the exit. His new eyes displayed information in a kind of holographic form, the information appearing to Cell as floating in mid-air. He began reading a schematic of the ship that had been transmitted to him and stopped. He then walked toward a door on the left side of the hangar and pressed his third right hand against the palm reader, which glowed green, chirped, and the door slid open.

Because of Cell's new sized and body dimensions, he had to duck and twist to get through the door. After he got through, he crossed his arms and dropped his head into a palm and cursed.

He could have just used Instant Transmission to transport himself to the bridge where Dr. Gero and DeSaad were waiting for him. He quickly placed to fingers against his forehead, concentrated and got a lock on Dr. Gero's energy signature, which he had a record of in his new data banks. He disappeared from the hallway and re-materialized right in front of Dr. Gero who fell on his ass out of fright. The bridge crew tried to draw weapon but were shouted down by DeSaad.

"Incompetent cretins! This is the warrior great and powerful Darkseid commanded we retrieve! Put your weapons away! Did you not see what he did to that other ship?! He could kill you all with a look! Now back to your posts and get us back to Apokolips!"

"_For Darkseid!" _The bridge crew bellowed in response, and quickly began implementing DeSaads orders. Cell turned to his creator and helped the older man to his feet and even helped him dust off. As Gero took stock of his wayward "son", he smiled a genuinely happy smile.

"Your looking well, boy"

Cell smiled at his creator and said, "I _feel amazing!_"

As Gero laughed at the young android's exuberance, Cell asked about the little yellow sphere that popped out of his chest. Both Gero and DeSaad stared blankly at Cell and then each other. They responded at the same time, "what yellow sphere?"

_Apokolips_

_Ten Minutes later..._

The Great and Terrible Darkseid sat on his throne, watching the events on the planet in the other universe transpire.

DeSaad and Gero had indeed found a surprisingly stable portal to Cells home universe. The android had travelled through the portal and arrived on a world called Tapia; there he had observed Cell's interaction with this 'Frieza' character and was intrigued. He had focused his Omega Beams through the special transceiver and used them to transfer Cell's would-be victim into a small containment vessel before Cell finished Frieza off.

The little orb materialized in Darkseids huge hand and after it floated to the middle of his throne room, he used his Omega Beams again to restore the captive within.

As Frieza re-materialized, he screamed like a Banshee as his body was reconstructed. He unceremoniously flopped onto the floor and groaned piteously. He slowly shook his head as his senses stopped swimming, and shakily got back to his feet. An amused Darkseid rose from his throne and strolled up to the effeminate alien warlord without a care in the world.

When Frieza's eyes finally adjusted to the low reddish light, he saw the huge New God looming over him, smiling like a huge cat that had eaten a canary.

"Welcome to Apokolips, Master Frieza!" Darkseid bellowed, even as his smile widened. "I certainly hope you enjoy your stay!" He then did something very very few of his servants had ever seen him do.

Darkseid, the God of Evil, broke into roaring laughter.

**Author's Notes:**** Holy crap on a cracker! I thought I would never get this done, but get it done I did! I hope everyone can please forgive my tardiness! Unitl next time!**


End file.
